Voters Reject South Dakota Abortion Ban Seen As Potential Challenge To Roe

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 06 Nov 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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A South Dakota ballot initiative that would have banned virtually all abortions in the state was defeated Tuesday by 55% to 45%, CNN.com reports (CNN.com, 11/5). Initiated Measure 11 would have banned abortions except in the cases of rape or incest or in narrowly defined instances "to preserve the health or life of the woman" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/28). According to the Los Angeles Times, proponents viewed the initiative as a way to challenge Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court.

Initiated Measure 11 was a revised version of a 2006 proposal that would have banned abortion in all circumstances. Voters rejected that measure by a 10-point margin, but supporters "hoped that they could secure passage this year by providing exceptions for rape and incest," the Times reports. Opponents of the measure said the exceptions still were too restrictive, allowing abortions only if the woman identified her assailant and proved paternity through DNA testing, or if a physician determined the woman faced possible organ failure if the pregnancy were brought to term (Riccardi, Los Angeles Times, 11/5). Opponents also argued that the restrictions would jeopardize the patient-physician relationship by permitting criminal charges against physicians who overreached the boundaries of the exceptions. Supporters maintained that physicians who abide by standard medical practices would be in no danger of criminal charges (Walker, AP/Allentown Morning Call, 11/5). According to the Times, supporters of the measure "vowed to try again" in the 2010 election.

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Leslee Unruh -- an abortion-rights opponent who led supporters of Measure 11 -- said, "We're not going away ... Third time's the charm." Sarah Stoesz -- president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota -- said, "South Dakotans have affirmed by their votes ... that no vague law can account for every individual circumstance. And that is precisely why women and families, not the government, should make these personal health care decisions" (Los Angeles Times, 11/5). Stoesz added, "We defeated it here, and it won't spread to other states. And now we've started a counter movement in a very conservative part of the country" (Reuters, 11/5). In reaction to the defeat of both the South Dakota measure and a Colorado initiative that would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, Vicki Saporta -- president of the National Abortion Federation -- said, "The lesson here is that Americans, in states across the country, clearly support women's ability to access abortion care without government interference" (Crary, AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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