South Dakota court blow for abortion rights

The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit aimed at preventing an abortion rights initiative from appearing on the November ballot.

In an effort to invalidate a state abortion rights ballot measure brought by Dakotans for Health, the anti-abortion group Life Defense Fund brought a lawsuit against the measure last month.

While the lawsuit was dismissed last month by Judge John Pekas, Life Defense Fund appealed the ruling and accused the measure’s supporters of various forms of misconduct, including leaving petitions unattended and allegedly deceiving voters into signing.

On Friday, the South Dakota Supreme Court reversed an order of dismissal and sent the case back for further proceedings, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Newsweek reached out to Dakotans for Health and Life Defense Fund via email on Monday for comment.

In a statement, Life Defense Fund co-chair Leslee Unruh applauded the court’s decision and took aim at the ballot measure.

“[Measure leader] Rick Weiland and his paid posse have broken laws, tricked South Dakotans into signing their abortion petition, left petitions unattended, and much more. Dakotans for Health illegally gathered signatures to get Amendment G on the ballot, therefore this measure should not be up for a vote this November,” Unruh said in her statement, according to the AP.

South Dakota outlaws abortion as a felony crime and only allows exceptions to save the life of the mother.

However, the proposed amendment aims to prohibit the state from regulating “a pregnant woman’s abortion decision and its effectuation” in the first trimester and would permit regulations in the second trimester only if they are reasonably related to the pregnant woman’s physical health. For the third trimester, the amendment would allow the state to regulate or ban abortions except in cases where the procedure is deemed necessary by a physician to preserve the woman’s life or health.

Friday’s ruling comes after Dakotans for Health successfully submitted approximately 54,000 petition signatures in May, and the measure was then validated for the ballot by South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson’s office, the AP reported.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wadein June 2022, many Republican-controlled states have put abortion restrictions into effect, with 21 states banning or restricting the medical practice at every stage of pregnancy. However, most Democratic states have laws or executive orders in place to protect access. Voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Vermont and Arizona have taken steps to adopt similar ballot measures, hoping to put the abortion issue directly before voters.

With the 2024 presidential election fast approaching, abortion has been a key issue for both the Republican and Democratic campaigns as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who began her White House bid after President Joe Biden stepped down from the race last month, are expected to face off in November.