A group of South Dakota legislators announced the introduction of new legislation that would limit access to abortion services. The proposal would outlaw the practice except in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother. It would also tighten laws that require abortion providers to report rape and incest to the proper authorities.
The Legislature passed an abortion ban last year with only an exception for the life of the mother. But a petition drive placed the measure on the November ballot. The ban failed to gain approval -- only 45 percent voted in favor.
Rep. Gordon Howie said the Woman's Health and Human Life Protection Act has a better chance of becoming law.
"About 75 percent of South Dakotans do favor a ban bill," he told Family News in Focus, "that would provide for well-designed exceptions for rape, incest or health and life of the mother."
Rob Regier, a pro-life activist, said the new legislation would at least bring an end to abortion on demand.
"There is nothing stopping a woman from getting an abortion in South Dakota right now," he said. "The only hurdles women have in order to obtain an abortion are informed consent and a minor girl has to give parental notice."
The new bill would reduce the number of abortions by about 98 percent, Regier said, because, according to the Department of Health, only about 2 percent of abortions are said to involve rape or incest.
Leslee Unruh, spokeswoman for the Vote for Life Coalition, said the bill has an added benefit of legal accountability, because anyone seeking an abortion because of rape or incest must consult with two physicians.
"The law makes it so that the woman has to go to her own doctor or to a professional at a hospital," she told Family News in Focus. "They cannot go to Planned Parenthood and say they were raped and then have an abortion. There has to be someone in between making that decision."
If a woman seeks an abortion in a case of rape, she would be required to report the incident to police within 50 days of the crime, Unruh added. Doctors would be required to submit DNA evidence to officials.
Regier said though abortion clinics are already required to report evidence of a crime, the law would tighten the rules.
"I'm not sure that we completely trust Planned Parenthood with reporting everything," he said. "During the debate over the last couple of years, they've been a bit evasive on that issue when brought before courts of law. This would just make it clearer and easier for the state to police."
