Current:Home > FinanceAn abortion rights initiative makes the ballot in conservative South Dakota -×
An abortion rights initiative makes the ballot in conservative South Dakota
View
Date:2025-04-12 04:18:37
South Dakota voters will decide on abortion rights this fall, getting a chance at direct democracy on the contentious issue in a conservative state where a trigger law banning nearly all abortions went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The state’s top election official announced Thursday that about 85% of the more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative are valid, exceeding the required 35,017 signatures.
Voters will vote up or down on prohibiting the state from regulating abortion before the end of the first trimester and allowing the state to regulate abortion after the second trimester, except when necessary to preserve the life or physical or emotional health of a pregnant woman.
Dakotans for Health, which sponsored the amendment, said in a statement Thursday that the signatures’ validation “certified that the people of South Dakota, not the politicians in Pierre, will be the ones to decide whether to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of South Dakota.”
Abortion rights are also on the ballot in Florida, Maryland and New York, and advocates are still working toward that goal in states including Arizona, Montana and Nebraska in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe.
Voters of seven other states have already approved abortion access in ballot measures, including four that wrote abortion rights into their constitution.
South Dakota outlaws all abortions, except to save the life of the mother.
Despite securing language on the ballot, abortion rights advocates in South Dakota face an uphill battle to success in November. Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the measure, and a major abortion rights advocate has said it doesn’t support it.
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota warned when the signatures were submitted that the language as written doesn’t convey the strongest legal standard for courts to evaluate abortion laws and could risk being symbolic only.
Life Defense Fund, a group organized against the initiative, said they will continue to research the signatures.
Opponents still have 30 days — until June 17 — to file a challenge with the secretary of state’s office.
“We are grateful to the many dedicated volunteers who have put in countless hours, and we are resolute in our mission to defend unborn babies,” co-chairs Leslee Unruh and state Rep. Jon Hansen said in a statement.
___
Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. AP writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed from Oakland, New Jersey.
veryGood! (23)
Related
- Trump's 'stop
- Live Nation and Ticketmaster tell Biden they're going to show fees up front
- Methane Hunters: What Explains the Surge in the Potent Greenhouse Gas?
- Text scams, crypto crackdown, and an economist to remember
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- How saving water costs utilities
- Grimes used AI to clone her own voice. We cloned the voice of a host of Planet Money.
- Over 1,000 kids are competing in the 2023 Mullet Championships: See the contestants
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Inside Clean Energy: E-bike Sales and Sharing are Booming. But Can They Help Take Cars off the Road?
Ranking
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Experts raised safety concerns about OceanGate years before its Titanic sub vanished
- Powering Electric Cars: the Race to Mine Lithium in America’s Backyard
- Republicans Are Primed to Take on ‘Woke Capitalism’ in 2023, with Climate Disclosure Rules for Corporations in Their Sights
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- California Passes Law Requiring Buffer Zones for New Oil and Gas Wells
- Untangling All the Controversy Surrounding Colleen Ballinger
- A Plan To Share the Pain of Water Scarcity Divides Farmers in This Rural Nevada Community
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Drones show excavation in suspected Gilgo beach killer's back yard. What's next?
Journalists at Gannett newspapers walk out over deep cuts and low pay
The OG of ESGs
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
When insurers can't get insurance
A New Plant in Indiana Uses a Process Called ‘Pyrolysis’ to Recycle Plastic Waste. Critics Say It’s Really Just Incineration
The SEC sues Binance, unveils 13 charges against crypto exchange in sweeping lawsuit