Pierre, S.D. – Lawmakers here are preparing to vote on a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in South Dakota, a measure that could become the most sweeping ban approved by any state in more than a decade, those on both sides of the abortion debate say.
If the bill passes a narrowly divided Senate in a vote expected today and is signed by Gov. Michael Rounds, a Republican who opposes abortion, advocates of abortion rights have pledged to immediately challenge it in court – and that is precisely what the bill’s supporters have in mind.
Optimistic about the new additions to the U.S. Supreme Court, some abortion opponents say they have new hope that a court fight over a ban here could lead to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal around the country.
“I’m convinced that the timing is right for this,” said state Rep. Roger Hunt, a Republican who has sponsored the bill, noting the appointments of justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the court.
“The strong possibility of a third appointee sometime soon makes this all very real and very viable,” Hunt added, a reference to conjecture that Justice John Paul Stevens, 85, might soon retire. “I think it will all culminate at the right time.”
Supporters of the bill, which has already passed the South Dakota House and a Senate committee, said they sensed encouraging signs from the Supreme Court, including Tuesday’s announcement that the justices will hear a challenge to a federal law prohibiting one specific abortion procedure.
Not since before 1992, when the Supreme Court reaffirmed a core right to abortion in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, has a state legislature adopted a direct challenge to Roe, said Eve Gartner, a senior staff lawyer for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Since 2005, bans similar to the bill have been proposed in at least five states, but those on both sides of the abortion debate say the effort here has the strongest chance of succeeding. That possibility has brought a flurry of forces from both sides to this tiny state capital.
“While they are making political maneuvers, we’re trying to fight for the women of South Dakota,” said Kate Looby, the state director of Planned Parenthood in South Dakota. Looby said she had spent hundreds of hours meeting with lawmakers and others as a vote draws close. “I hate to envision the day when the women of South Dakota are treated differently than the women elsewhere when it comes to safe and legal health care.”
The timing has divided abortion opponents. Some, who argue that a failed Supreme Court challenge now might damage their efforts, have opposed the ban, placing them, somewhat awkwardly, on the same side as abortion-rights advocates.
“I don’t think it’s the most prudent thing to do at this time,” said Daniel McConchie, vice president for Americans United for Life, a group that opposes abortion rights. “It’s really a long-shot type of situation.”
State Sen. Brock Greenfield, a Republican who is also director of South Dakota Right to Life, said he, too, was concerned.
“Is this the right time to proceed with legislation when we still have five justices who have suggested they will vote to uphold Roe?” Greenfield asked.
Nonetheless, Greenfield and state Sen. Jay Duenwald, a Republican who said he is a member of the board of directors of the National Right to Life Committee, said they each had decided, despite their reservations, to support the ban when it comes to a vote.
The proposed legislation, which states that “life begins at the time of conception,” would prohibit abortion except in cases where a mother’s life was at risk. Felony charges could be placed against doctors, but not against those seeking abortions, the proposed law says.
Some states have similarly broad abortion bans, but they either predate Roe or are “trigger laws,” which would take effect only if Roe were overturned.
In a state of about 770,000 people, approximately 800 abortions are performed each year, nearly all at one clinic in Sioux Falls.
Several years ago, the political atmosphere here became such that no local doctors felt comfortable performing abortions, Looby said, so doctors are flown in from Minnesota.