South Dakota Group Opposed To State Abortion Ban Launches Advertisement

The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families -- a coalition that successfully blocked the July 1 enactment of a law (HB 1215) banning abortion in the state except to save a woman's life by gathering enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot -- on Monday launched its first television advertisement calling on voters to reject the law, the AP/Rapid City Journal reports (Brokaw, AP/Rapid City Journal, 9/18). The ad asks, "Should a woman who's the victim of rape or incest be left with no option?" It adds that the law, on the November ballot as Referred Law 6, does not make exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape, incest or when the pregnant woman's health is in jeopardy (Campaign for Healthy Families ad, 9/19). Leslee Unruh of VoteYesforLife.com, which supports the law, said the law "does give options" to rape or incest survivors under a provision that says survivors could obtain emergency contraception before a pregnancy could be detected by conventional testing. According to Jan Nicolay, co-chair of Campaign for Healthy Families, "The law allows the government to intrude into a difficult, private decision that should be made by a woman, her family and her doctor." Nicolay added, "I'm confident that when voters learn there is no exception for rape, incest or the health of the mother, they will vote against the ban" (AP/Rapid City Journal, 9/18).

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