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South Dakota Abortion Ban Delayed: Will Go to Public Vote

By Gudrun Schultz

PIERRE, South Dakota, June 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Voters in South Dakota will decide if the law banning almost all abortions in the state will stand or be overturned, after opponents of the legislation gathered enough signatures to force a public vote on the issue.

The petition drive collected about 38,000 signatures, more than twice the amount needed to ensure the issue would become a ballot question in the November 7 vote, the AP reported yesterday.

Leslee Unruh, who runs a crisis pregnancy center, told the AP the campaign to protect the ban would be working to convince voters that abortion must be stopped because it harms both unborn babies and the women who have abortions.

"It's probably the loudest cry we've heard," Unruh said. "It's because there are so many women who have been harmed by abortion, myself being one of them, who have come together."

Governor Mike Rounds signed the abortion ban into law in March. Under the new law, abortion would only be permitted if it were necessary to save the life of the mother. The law is the first abortion ban in the United States since the Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973 removed restrictions on abortion access across the country.

Originally set to take effect July first, the start date for the law will be delayed until results from the public vote are in.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Abortion Ban Signed into Law by South Dakota Governor
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06030603.html

South Dakota Churches Falsely Threatened With Loss of Tax-Exempt Status
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061402.html

 

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