Today, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed a law that bans almost all abortions in the state. The law will be challenged in court, and is clearly intended as a frontal assault on Roe v. Wade. In fact, the Governor frankly said that he hopes the law “will give the United States Supreme Court…[an] opportunity to reconsider an earlier opinion,” clearly referring to Roe. NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger had this to say:
“South Dakota’s newly passed abortion ban displays contempt for women and utter disregard of their health and well-being. The South Dakota ban is intended to challenge more than 30 years of Supreme Court protection of a woman’s most basic right to make personal and private health decisions with her family, her physician and according to her conscience, and not the dictates of politicians.
“Women in South Dakota must now look to the courts to protect their health and their rights. With Roe v. Wade hanging by a thread, the specter of dangerous, back alley abortions is all too real. Unfortunately, some other states are poised to follow South Dakota’s lead. Others are pressing to enact a combination of barriers that would make legal abortion all but unobtainable for most women. And some in Congress are determined to follow a similar strategy so that nationwide most abortions would be out of reach for most women. These are perilous times for women and families, who must fight to keep their hard-won rights.”
