South Dakota Governor Signs Bills to Limit Abortions, Lawsuit Expected

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 17, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

South Dakota Governor Signs Bills to Limit Abortions, Lawsuit Expected Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 17, 2005

Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — Governor Mike Rounds has signed four bills that will help limit the number of abortions performed in South Dakota. They are scheduled to take effect on July 1.

One of the bills would ban abortions in South Dakota if the Supreme Court ever overturns the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized virtually unlimited abortions.

Another 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. A third would create a 15-member panel that would study how abortion affects women.

Sen. Julie Bartling, a Democrat, sponsored the abortion information bill.

"We need to find a way to inform women contemplating abortions exactly what the consequences are, not only at the time of the abortion but down the road, emotionally, mentally, as well as possibly physically," she told the Associated Press.

"The information is not 100 percent there right now when a woman goes to an abortion clinic and they tell her what’s going to happen," she said Thursday. "I don’t think they’re told that an abortion could lead to a very emotional, mental trauma."

However, abortion advocates say they will take the law to court.

Kate Looby, director of Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, the state;s only abortion facility, says her group’s board of directors is considering a potential lawsuit before the law goes into effect.

South Dakota state law allows parents to be informed 48 hours before an abortion on their teenager daughter. An exception is made in cases of medical emergency. The fourth law would let parents know 24 hours afterwards when an emergency abortion is performed on their minor daughters.

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