South Dakota's stark abortion choice

[carzen]

South Dakota voters are poised to weigh in on a landmark bill, passed by the legislature in March and referred to the ballot by a petition drive, that would outlaw all abortions except to save a mother's life. While the law, if approved, will almost certainly be challenged in court, the campaign is under scrutiny by those on all sides of the national debate eager to see whether voters in a conservative, largely antiabortion state are ready to approve an all-out ban on abortion.

If the ban is voted down, it will indicate even abortion opponents aren't willing to rein in all rights, and it will diminish the chances that other states will pass similar bans. If it's approved, observers expect other states to follow, and it's possible a court challenge could reach the Supreme Court.

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"It's really tough for us," Dick Ronken tells an antiabortion canvasser. "We're against abortion, but I think they haven't gone far enough to provide for all cases. It should be between a woman and her God and her doctor, without the government interfering."

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"In the case of abortion, we have long said that people in this country may accept restrictions, but will never accept a total ban on abortion - this debate really lays that bare," says Sarah Stoesz, the president of Planned Parenthood in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, which runs the only abortion-providing clinic in South Dakota.


http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1012/p01s01-uspo.html