South Dakota: Over 55,000 signatures submitted for abortion measure; Opponents file lawsuit

[In It to Win It]

Over 55,000 signatures submitted for abortion measure; Opponents file lawsuit

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) — The future of South Dakota’s abortion laws took two major turns on Wednesday in downtown Sioux Falls, as members of pro-choice and pro-life organizations reacted to a possible measure South Dakotans might vote on in November that could overturn the state’s near-total ban on abortion.

After 18 months of traveling border-to-border since the first day, if lawfully could, Dakotans for Health announced today it had filed petitions containing over 55,000 signatures requesting the inclusion of what the group calls a “Freedom Amendment” on the November ballot. The Secretary of State’s office will now check the signatures for validity. About 37,000 valid signatures are needed to certify the amendment’s placement on the ballot.

The current South Dakota law — passed in 2005 and triggered immediately in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 “Roe vs Wade” Supreme Court decision — prohibits all abortions except when necessary to save the mother’s life.

At a press conference in the city’s downtown library, Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said abortion should be a matter the voters decide. He cited a 2022 poll of 500 registered voters in the state who said they want abortion rights decided by a ballot measure, not the Legislature.

“The abortion ban law passed by the Legislature is, in the most fundamental way, a question of the power of government versus the rights of a private citizen,” Weiland said.