PIERRE South Dakota, May 31, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Planned Parenthood, the owners of the lone remaining abortion clinic in South Dakota, have launched a federal suit against the state for requiring women to wait three days before an abortion.
The new law, HB 1217, is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, and requires women to visit a pregnancy resource center to learn about options other than abortion, and that women learn, in the words of Planned Parenthood, the “so-called risk factors and complications” of abortion.
Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, said that the new pro-life law would place “women and families at risk.”
“The voters of South Dakota, by resounding measures at the ballot box, twice have told their legislators that the decision to have an abortion is between a woman, her family and her doctor, and that government should not intrude on that decision,” said Stoesz in a press release Friday.
A Planned Parenthood attorney also claimed the law violated the “First Amendment rights” of both women and abortionists “against compelled speech and patients’ right to privacy in their personal and medical information.”
South Dakota Attorney General Marty J. Jackley said Friday that he will issue an “appropriate response setting forth pertinent defenses” once his office is served, according to Fox News.
Pro-life groups plan to help combat the legal challenge through the South Dakota Life Protection Fund, established in anticipation of such a challenge. The Fund is backed by the Family Heritage Alliance Board and the Alpha Center, an organization of pregnancy resource centers.
“This is a debate that goes right to the heart of the Declaration of Independence that guarantees every person the inalienable (God-given) right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” stated Alpha Center Founder Dr. Allen Unruh, regarding the legal battle over HB