The Circle

Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Politics

Pro-choice demonstrators in South Dakota rally in favor of Measure 11 to further limit abortion rights in the state.

Pro-life campaigners failed to carry three ballot initiatives that banned abortion to term earlier this month after Election Day defeats in California, Colorado and South Dakota. However, the growing split in the anti-abortion movement pitting traditionalists, opposed to all abortions, and the pragmatists, that condone abortion in the event of rape or incest, possibly led to an internal meltdown.

"Some of the strongest opponents of abortion may have been responsible for [the South Dakota] measure's defeat," Bob Burns, a retired educator from South Dakota State University, told a reporter from Gannet News Services about the South Dakota Right to Life organization. "They [South Dakota Right to Life] opposed the initiative because of the exceptions," Burns said of the "absolutist" group.

These exceptions in Measure 11, not included in the original, failed anti-abortion initiative from 2006, added measures permitting abortion in the event of rape or incest. Yet, it still maintained the language from 2006 that accepted abortion for the safety of the mother. In the event of rape though, the mother had to first identify the violator, determine paternity through a DNA test, and complete it within the first 20 weeks.

"They tried to twist it to make it seem like there are exceptions, but there are not exceptions," said Jan Nicolay, a former state legislator and co-chairwoman of South Dakota for Healthy Families, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Besides that, the stipulations aimed at protecting the mother's health, according to supporters of reproductive rights, are limited only to the threat of major organ failure. One scenario abortion rights supporters brought up had a pregnant mother, diagnosed with cancer, unable to seek chemotherapy or other treatment because a miscarriage would be criminal under the proposed South Dakota ban.

Proponents for reproductive rights also released a memo from attorneys, representing South Dakota's largest hospital chain, that hinted the passage of Measure 11 might "require a physician to choose between possibly committing a felony or subjecting a pregnant woman to a higher degree of medical risk than what would otherwise be clinically desirable."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools