For now, Roe v. Wade still protects a woman's right to choose. Should that right be abolished by a future Supreme Court constituted differently, South Dakota is getting ready to spring into action. But not in a good way.
Last week, the State Affairs Committee of the South Dakota Senate unanimously approved a bill that would "make it a felony to do abortions if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, is overturned." The only exception in the bill is if the woman's life is at risk.
What an odd thing: Legislation whose effectiveness is conditioned on a Supreme Court decision that hasn't occurred, in a case that doesn't yet exist. They're really chomping at the bit here.
More below.
Anti-abortion activists are getting all pumped up about it:
Rep. Joel Dykstra, R-Canton, the bill's prime sponsor, said it is designed to protect the rights of fetuses in case states are given the right to regulate abortion.
Rachel Hansen of the South Dakota Right to Life Committee, which helped draft the bill, said abortion rights supporters are gearing up for a fight in case the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
"In South Dakota, House Bill 1249 would throw a monkey wrench right in the middle of that strategy," Hansen said.
Rob Regier of the South Dakota Family Policy Council urged the committee to pass the bill.
"Send a message that South Dakota is more than just prepared to protect the unborn, but eager to," Regier said.
The Planned Parenthood response:
Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood said the bill is one of the most extreme measures she has seen. The measure would tie physicians' hands and ignore women's ability to make decisions for themselves, she said.
"Making abortion illegal never has and never will stop women from having abortions," Looby said, urging the committee to reject the bill.
And, as the ACLU points out, one particularly nefarious aspect of the bill is how narrowly the exception for the woman's health is drawn:
Jennifer Ring of the American Civil Liberties Union said the bill makes no provisions for abortions in cases where a woman's health is at risk or a fetus develops a potentially fatal condition. In such cases, women would be forced to allow the pregnancy to develop until it threatens their lives, Ring said.
Now that's good public policy, let me tell you.
The bill would impose a penalty of up to 2 years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
In these bleak times, we must try to find the bright side wherever it exists: (1) The committee actually eliminated a provision that would have made it a crime to advise a woman to seek an abortion. So I guess a doctor is not a criminal if he or she tells a woman how to go to another state to get an abortion. (2) It appears that the bill would not criminalize the act of getting an abortion -- only of performing an abortion.
