Yesterday it was announced that the South Dakota Senate passed a bill 23 to 12 in favor of banning abortion in nearly all cases. Today, the House voted to approve the same bill 50 to 18 and Gov. Mike Rounds plans to sign the bill into law and it would go into effect July 1.
From AP:
Under the legislation, doctors in South Dakota would face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion unless it was necessary to save the woman’s life.
…
Opponents of the bill argued that abortion should at least be allowed in cases involving rape, incest and a threat to a women’s health.If a woman who is raped becomes pregnant, the rapist would have the same rights to the child as the mother, said Krista Heeren-Graber, executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault.
“The idea the rapist could be in the child’s life … makes the woman very, very fearful. Sometimes they need to have choice,” Heeren-Graber said.
There is only one clinic performing abortions in all of South Dakota, Planned Parenthood, and they have pledged to challenge the law if Gov. Rounds signs it into law.
Will this case reach the SCOTUS before or after the eighty-five year old Justice Stevens retires?
