PIERRE, S.D. – A bill to ban abortion introduced Wednesday in the South Dakota state House of Representatives would allow exceptions for rape and incest, but only if the crimes are reported to authorities with DNA evidence.
People who oppose abortion hope the measure becomes the vehicle for a legal challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which legalized abortion broadly across the United States except in the last months of pregnancy.
A South Dakota bill passed last year contained an exception only to save the life of a woman. A petition campaign forced that bill onto the ballot and voters rejected it in November by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent.
Opponents of the legislation have said the issue was settled in the November election and lawmakers should not have revived it.
This year's bill would allow rape victims to get abortions if they report the rapes to police within 50 days. Doctors would have to confirm the report with police and would have to take blood from aborted fetuses and give that information to police for DNA testing.
In the case of incest, a doctor would have to get the woman's consent to report the crime along with the identity of the alleged perpetrator before an abortion could be performed. Blood samples from fetuses would have to be provided to police in incest cases, too.
Abortions could be done only until the 17th week of pregnancy in cases of incest and rape.
One of the 25 sponsors, Republican state Rep. Gordon Howie, said the rape and incest provisions are strict to ensure that women do not say they have been victims in order to obtain abortions.
The bill carries a tougher maximum penalty for illegal abortions than last year's bill — 10 years in prison instead of five.
It would allow abortions to save women's lives and in cases in which their health would be seriously jeopardized by a continued pregnancy. However, a doctor could perform an abortion only if a doctor from another practice concurs that a woman's health is in jeopardy.
In the November election, abortion-rights supporters prevailed in defeating two other state ballot measures — parental notification requirements in Oregon and California.
In several other states, including Oklahoma and Texas, conservatives are pushing new bills that would outlaw abortion in the event Roe vs. Wade is overturned.
The federal election in November eased abortion-rights groups' concerns about the prospect of the Supreme Court overturning the Roe decision. The newly Democratic-controlled Senate could ensure that any vacancy on the Supreme Court over the next two years would be filled by a supporter of abortion rights.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox