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An abortion rights initiative in South Dakota receives enough signatures to make the ballot

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An abortion rights initiative in South Dakota receives enough signatures to make the ballot


Supporters of a South Dakota abortion rights initiative submitted far more signatures than required Wednesday to make the ballot this fall. But its outcome is unclear in the conservative state, where Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the measure and a major abortion rights advocate doesn’t support it.

The effort echoes similar actions in seven other states where voters have approved abortion rights measures, including four — California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont — that put abortion rights in their constitution. Abortion rights measures also might appear on several other state ballots this year.

The signatures were submitted on the same day the Arizona Legislature approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions, and as a ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant, went into effect in Florida.

Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said backers of the ballot initiative gathered more than 55,000 signatures to submit to Secretary of State Monae Johnson, easily exceeding the 35,017 valid signatures needed to make the November general election. Johnson’s office has until Aug. 13 to validate the constitutional initiative. A group opposing the measure said it’s already planning a legal challenge to the petition alleging the signatures weren’t gathered correctly.

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South Dakota outlaws all abortions, except to save the life of the mother, under a trigger law that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

“The abortion law in South Dakota right now is the most restrictive law in the land. It’s practically identical to the 1864 abortion ban in Arizona,” said Weiland, referring to the law Arizona legislators voted to repeal Wednesday. “Women that get raped, victims of incest, women carrying nonviable or problem pregnancies have zero options.”

Weiland said the ballot measure is based on Roe v. Wade, which had established a nationwide right to abortion. It would bar the state from regulating “a pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its effectuation” in the first trimester, but allow second-trimester regulations “only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman,” such as licensing requirements for providers and facility requirements for safety and hygiene.

The initiative would allow the state to regulate or prohibit abortion in the third trimester, “except when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman’s physician, to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman.”

“Our Roe framework allows for abortion in the first two trimesters,” Weiland said.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota doesn’t support the measure.

“In particular, it does not have the strongest legal standard by which a court must evaluate restrictions on abortion, and thereby runs the risk of establishing a right to abortion in name only which could impede future efforts to ensure every South Dakotan has meaningful access to abortion without medically unnecessary restrictions,” executive director Libby Skarin said in a written statement.

Planned Parenthood North Central States, the former sole abortion provider in South Dakota, hasn’t said whether the organization would support the measure. In a joint statement with the ACLU of South Dakota, the two said groups said, “We are heartened by the enthusiasm South Dakotans have shown for securing abortion rights in our state.”

Weiland said he’s hopeful once the measure is on the ballot, “another conversation will occur with some of these organizations.” He cited his group’s hard work to get the measure this far, and said measure backers are “optimistic that we’re going to have the resources we need to be able to get the message out.”

Republican opponents, meanwhile, are promising to fight the initiative. Earlier this year, the GOP-led Legislature passed a resolution formally opposing it, along with a bill for a petition signature withdrawal process. The backer of the latter bill was Republican state Rep. Jon Hansen, a co-chair of Life Defense Fund, the group promising to challenge the ballot initiative.

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Hansen called the measure extreme during a forum last month.

“If the proponents of this abortion amendment wanted to just legalize rape and incest exceptions, they could have done that, but they didn’t do that,” Hansen said at the time. “Instead, what they wrote is an amendment that legalizes abortion past the point of viability, past the point where the baby could just be born outside the womb and up until the point of birth.”

Hansen also asserted that the measure would not allow “basic health and safety standards for mothers” in the first trimester.

Weiland has repeatedly disputed Hansen’s claims, and called Life Defense Fund’s planned court challenge “just a desperate charge on their part.”



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South Dakota

Nature: Bald Eagles in South Dakota

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Nature: Bald Eagles in South Dakota


Nature: Bald Eagles in South Dakota – CBS News

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We leave you this Sunday with bald eagles flying high above the Missouri River in South Dakota. As of January 1st, the bald eagle is, finally, our official national bird. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

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South Dakota men’s basketball takes down Denver for first Summit League victory of season

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South Dakota men’s basketball takes down Denver for first Summit League victory of season


The South Dakota men’s basketball team held off Denver 91-84 to earn its first conference win of the season.

The Coyotes held a six-point lead at halftime and outscored the Pioneers by one in the second half to extend their lead to seven.

USD built their lead in the first half with their aggression driving to the rim. The Coyotes were outshot from deep but their consistent penetration led to 23 first-half free throws. South Dakota converted 16 of those while the Pioneers made only three of 10. USD ended up plus-17 in the free throw battle.

The Coyotes only outrebounded Denver by one but managed to outscore the Pioneers in second-chance points by five. They also outscored Denver by six points in the paint. The Pioneers committed four more turnovers than South Dakota but the Coyotes took advantage of the turnovers they forced, outscoring Denver in points off turnovers by six.

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The Coyotes were led by Isaac Bruns and Chase Forte who each scored over 20 points. Bruns finished with 21 points on 5-for-9 shooting and was 11-for-14 from the charity stripe. He also had two steals and five rebounds. Forte ended with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting. The guard also corralled seven rebounds and had two steals.

The South Dakota men’s basketball team will travel to Minnesota to face St. Thomas on Saturday, Jan. 11.



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Iowa football earns transfer portal commitment from former South Dakota State DL

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Iowa football earns transfer portal commitment from former South Dakota State DL


The Iowa Hawkeyes have another addition for the 2025 season via the NCAA transfer portal.

Former South Dakota State defensive lineman Bryce Hawthorne announced his pledge to the Hawkeyes on Saturday afternoon with an Instagram post.

Hawthorne appeared in 14 games for the Jackrabbits during the 2024 FCS season, tallying 22 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks and a pair of quarterback hurries.

A native of Osseo, Minn., the 6-foot-3, 285 pound defensive tackle joins Iowa with three seasons of eligibility remaining. After appearing in just three games and redshirting during the 2023 campaign, Hawthorne burst onto the scene for the Jackrabbits this year.

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Hawthorne was named to FCS Football Central’s freshman All-American team for his efforts at SDSU in 2024.

Hawthorne arrives as part of a defensive tackle rotation that features returnees Aaron Graves and Jeremiah Pittman. That duo combined for 49 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks during the 2024 regular season.

With Yahya Black exhausting his eligibility, Iowa wanted more interior defensive line help. The Hawkeyes have found it with the addition of Hawthorne and former Central Michigan defensive tackle Jonah Pace.

During the 2024 season with Central Michigan, Pace totaled 34 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, four sacks, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. According to Pro Football Focus, Pace had 20 total pressures a season ago.

Iowa is also set to bring back Will Hubert and Luke Gaffney in its defensive interior.

Hawthorne joins former Auburn quarterback Hank Brown and Pace among Iowa’s transfer portal additions thus far entering the 2025 college football season.

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