It was expected, but it’s still infuriating and degrading. South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds just signed a law that requires a young girl who is raped by her father to have his baby. The only exception is to save a woman’s life. The ban would take effect on July 1, but a federal judge is likely to suspend the ban during the legal challenge.
Even in most African countries where abortion is illegal, there are exceptions for rape and incest. Many governments are relaxing abortion laws in Africa to decrease the incredibly high number of unwanted pregnancies and back street abortions.
This year alone, 19 million women will face serious injury, illness or death as a consequence of abortions performed by unskilled people under unsanitary conditions. That’s 52,054 women per day. Virtually all of those women live in the poorest countries in the world, and almost every death and injury could be prevented, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s report, Death and Denial: Unsafe Abortion and Poverty.
Making abortion illegal will not make abortion go away. Women will do whatever it takes to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, even if it means taking their lives into their own hands. This is not a fight about a medical procedure; this is a fight about women’s lives and women’s place in society.
South Dakota’s “pro-life” governor expects the law will be tied up in court for years and will not take effect unless the Supreme Court upholds it. If you want to let Rounds know how you feel about this law, call: 605.773.3212
