South Dakota voters will decide fate of abortion ban
By Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - South Dakotans will vote in November on the fate of a new state law, one of the most restrictive anti-abortion measures in the United States, banning the procedure even for women made pregnant by rape or incest or those whose health is in danger.
Abortion rights supporters have gathered enough signatures to let voters decide whether South Dakota should keep or reject the measure, crafted by conservative state lawmakers to give the U.S. Supreme Court a platform for overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.
South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson certified on Monday that the required 16,728 signatures had been gathered and the repeal initiative would appear on the ballot.
"We will encourage all South Dakotans to join us in repealing this extreme law that has embroiled our state in controversy and threatens our government with million dollar lawsuits," said Jan Nicolay, who led the petition drive for the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families.
Written to take advantage of the U.S. high court's anticipated rightward shift after Republican President George W. Bush named his first justices, the measure would ban abortions, including of pregnancies resulting from incest or rape, and subject doctors who carry out abortions to fines of $5,000 and up to five years in prison.
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