South Dakota: Leading the Charge to Ban Abortion
Abortion.
As of right now, abortions are legal in all 50 states due to the 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court on Roe v. Wade. “Jane Roe” was Norma McCorvey, a young, pregnant woman in Texas without the means or funds to access an abortion. Wade was Henry B. Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, TX. The Supreme Court decided that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction and with restrictions in later months, based on the rights to privacy. They concluded that abortion was a right that the government could not take away due to their interpretation of the ninth amendment. The ninth amendment states “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
Prior to 1973, abortions were illegal in most states with a few exceptions (rape, incest and life endangerment were typically the reasons abortions were granted although even that wasn’t allowed in some states). Four states allowed abortions for any reason (NY,AK,HI,WA). Of those four states New York was the only one that didn’t have a residency requirement therefore it was dubbed “Abortion capital of America”. After abortions became legal in January 1973, the number of abortions was at 744,600 and rose every year, hitting an all-time high in 1990 with 1.6 million abortions performed in the United States. Abortions started declining in the mid-nineties, with the latest statistics showing that in 2005 they fell to 820,151. New York leads with the most abortions performed in a year (124,849), while Wyoming has the fewest (14).
South Dakota, which has been called the most pro-life state in the union passed a piece of legislation (HB1215) in 2006 banning all abortions except when the mother’s life was endangered. Pro-choice citizens collected signatures and under the state’s veto referendum laws put the new bill on the ballot for voters. The voters of South Dakota voted the bill down 55% to 45%. In 2008, South Dakota legislators “tweaked” HB1215 and put it on the ballot again. Once again, it was voted down 55% to 45%. Politicians are talking about putting it back on the ballot in 2012. To this I say KNOCK IT OFF! The people of South Dakota have spoken. First to put the legislation to vote by the citizens, and the other two times voted the bill down. It’s time for South Dakota politicians to stop wasting taxpayer time and money by trying to put their own morals and values on everyone. The Supreme Court has spoken on this issue. Abortion is protected under the Ninth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Period. You can have a differing opinion on it, but you can’t make your personal opinion law for everyone.