S. Dakota OK's wide abortion ban

South Dakota lawmakers approved the nation's most far-reaching ban on abortion on Feb. 24, setting up a frontal assault on Roe v. Wade at a time when some activists see the US Supreme Court as more willing than ever to overturn the 33-year-old decision. Governor Mike Rounds, a Republican, said he was inclined to sign the bill, which would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless it was necessary to save the woman's life. The measure would make no exception in cases of rape or incest. Many opponents and supporters of abortion rights believe the US Supreme Court is more likely to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion now that conservatives John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. are on the bench. Lawmakers said growing support among South Dakotans for abortion restrictions added momentum to the bill. "I think the stars are aligned," said House Speaker Matthew Michels, a Republican. "Simply put, now is the time." Planned Parenthood, which operates the only abortion clinic in South Dakota, has pledged to sue over the measure. About 800 abortions a year are performed in South Dakota. Some opponents of the bill said abortion should at least be allowed in cases of rape or incest, or where the woman's health is threatened. If a rape victim becomes pregnant and bears a child, the rapist could have the same parental rights as the mother, said Krista Heeren-Graber, executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault. "The idea [that] the rapist could be in the child's life... makes the woman very, very fearful. Sometimes they need to have choice," Heeren-Graber said. Under the measure, doctors could get up to five years in prison for performing an illegal abortion. The House passed the bill 50-to-18; the Senate approved it 23-to-12 earlier that week. If signed, it would become law on July 1. "The momentum for a change in the national policy on abortion is going to come in the not-too-distant future," said Rep. Roger W. Hunt, another Republican who sponsored the bill. To his delight, abortion opponents succeeded in defeating all amendments designed to mitigate the ban, including exceptions in the case of rape or incest or the health of the woman. Hunt said that such "special circumstances" would have diluted the bill and its impact on the national scene. Money for the anticipated legal fight is already pouring in. Lawmakers were told during the debate that an anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to defend the ban, and the Legislature is setting up a special account to accept donations. "We've had people stopping in our office trying to drop off checks to promote the defense of this legislation already," Rounds said. Some advocates said an abortion ban would hurt poor women the most by forcing them to travel long distances to other states where the procedure is legal. Kate Looby, Planned Parenthood director in Sioux Falls, said women who cannot afford to travel to a clinic might be forced to turn to unsafe methods of abortion. "We've seen it in the past in this country, we've seen it all over the world, and there's no reason to believe it would not happen in South Dakota," Looby said. The South Dakota bill may be a full-scale attack on the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling, but there is no requirement that justices hear a challenge to it. In the early 1990s, justices declined to hear cases involving abortion bans passed in Utah and Louisiana; instead, the Supreme Court let stand lower-court rulings that declared those laws unconstitutional. Still, abortion rights advocates said they were alarmed by the GOP-controlled legislature's action. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the bill "a chilling reminder of the lengths to which anti-choice lawmakers will go to interfere in our most difficult and personal decisions." "Clearly emboldened by President Bush's judicial appointments," she said, "South Dakota has passed dangerous and unconstitutional legislation that its supporters admit is a direct attack on Roe v. Wade." "This is a devastating day for the women of South Dakota," Looby said. "We fully expected this, yet it's still distressing to know that this legislative body cares so little about women, about families, about women who are victims of rape or incest." Last year, South Dakota passed five laws to restrict abortions, including one that would compel doctors to tell women that they would be ending the life of a "whole, separate, unique human being." That law has been blocked by a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood.