South Dakota Abortion Bills Advance to Full Senate, Then Governor

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 23, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

South Dakota Abortion Bills Advance to Full Senate, Then Governor Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 23, 2005

Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — Three pro-life bills that would limit abortion passed out of the Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday and now head to the full Senate for consideration. They have all previously passed through the House and will head to the governor if given a green light by the Senate.

One bill would ensure that women are provided proper information by the state’s lone abortion facility on abortion’s risks and dangers as well as alternatives. Another bill would create a 15-member panel that would study how abortion affects women.

HB 1166, the abortion information bill, previously passed in the state House 58-10 while HB 1233, the abortion study measure, cleared the state House 60-8.

The third measure, HB 1249, would make it a felony to perform abortions unless needed to prevent the death of the mother. Abortion practitioners would face two years in prison and a $2,000 fine under the measure.

Nicole Osmundson, a nurse who has counseled women who have had abortions and regret their decision, said many had thoughts of suicide after the abortion and that they were not told of the trauma beforehand.

"They wished they’d been told it was a baby, not a blob of tissue," Osmundson said, according to an AP report.

Last week, the Senate committee approved SB193, a measure to tighten parental notification requirements and has approved legislation that would ban abortions in the state should the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing them be overturned.

In 2002, 826 abortions were performed in South Dakota and the Planned Parenthood business in Sioux Falls performed 815 of them.

Related web sites:
South Dakota Right to Life – https://www.sdrl.org