South Dakota Voters Defeat Statewide Abortion Ban on Tuesday 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 8, 2006
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — Voters in South Dakota turned back that state’s effort to be the first in the nation to take on the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized virtually all abortions. With a 55-45 vote, state residents opposed an abortion ban that would have prohibited all abortions in the state except those necessary to save the life of the mother.
Polls before the vote showed the ban would have been approved easily had it included exceptions for rape or incest, though pro-life advocates don’t support aborting babies for those reasons.
Despite its loss, the abortion ban has already prompted other states to consider similar measures and state legislatures in even more states may follow South Dakota’s lead next year.
Polls on the abortion ban appeared to have been on the right track leading up to Tuesday night’s vote.
The last survey, by the Maryland-based firm Research 2000, was conducted last week for Sioux Falls television station KELO.
The poll found Referred Law 6 behind with 50 percent of voters opposing it and 41 percent backing it. Nine percent of state voters were still undecided.
