From
Reuters a couple of hours ago:
CHICAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - South Dakota's legislature sent to its governor a strict ban on abortion, which if signed into law by the governor will face a certain court fight, its chief sponsor said on Thursday.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, a Roman Catholic who has declared his opposition to abortion rights, has not said whether he will sign the bill, which defines human life as beginning at conception.
The bipartisan support of this bill in South Dakota will make it more difficult for Herseth to come out against it, of course, but doing the right thing is never easy. Sure, as a candidate for national office, she doesn't have to comment on anything her state legislature does. But if Stephanie Herseth stays silent about this, it will speak volumes to me.
Keep reading and weep.
I haven't seen much coverage of this story other news sources yet, but Reuters has some interesting tidbits, including a rather bizarre comparison of the costs of defending this legislation as a challenge to Roe v. Wade:
The South Dakota House on Wednesday passed the bill by a vote of 54 to 15, and overrode an effort to send it to a committee for further consideration.
The state senate has already approved it.
Rounds has until March 12 to sign the bill, which makes performing an abortion a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The only exception is if the mother's life is in danger.
"According to our research, this is the strongest, cleanest pro-life legislation passed by a state legislature since Roe vs. Wade," the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that made abortions legal, the bill's sponsor, Republican State Representative Matt McCaulley, said in a telephone interview.
"If this is the case that goes to the Supreme Court to get them to overturn Roe versus Wade, so be it," he said.
The bill won bipartisan support, though both houses of the legislature are two-thirds Republican, McCaulley said.
Organizations that support abortion rights decried the legislation, and the local head of Planned Parenthood pledged to challenge its constitutionality in court.
"This bill is a direct assault on South Dakotans' rights, and should worry every American who values a woman's right to choose, and the right to privacy which underlies it," Kate Michelman, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. ...
McCaulley said there were roughly 800 abortions performed in South Dakota annually. The cost of litigation will be $1 million at most, which he considered reasonable as it was about the same as the cost of repaving 1 mile (1.6 km) of South Dakota highway.
Bulldozing women's rights, paving a highway. Same diff.
Kossacks, while we're distracted by this talk - just talk - about the Federal Marriage Amendment, legislation like this and the house bill creating federal recognition of a fetus as a victim of a crime both slipped by us today. While we're talkin', these right wingers are gettin' shit done!