In March, [tag]South Dakota[/tag] Gov. [tag]Mike Rounds[/tag] (R) signed legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a measure which generated an immediate lawsuit. But before the issue is decided in the courts, abortion-rights advocates turned in more than 37,000 signatures that asked voters to decide on whether to overturn the [tag]ban[/tag] through a [tag]ballot initiative[/tag].
Despite South Dakota’s conservative positions, voters, at least for the time being, seem poised to reject the prohibition.
Amid the often hostile rhetoric that pierces South Dakota’s closely watched [tag]abortion[/tag] debate, a new survey shows that more residents of the largely conservative state oppose a ban on the pregnancy-ending procedure than support it, though that would change if exceptions for cases involving rape and incest were allowed.
According to the statewide [tag]poll[/tag], conducted for the Argus Leader and KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, 47 percent of voters polled would vote to reject the ban, compared with 39 percent who would vote to keep it. Another 14 percent were undecided.
If South Dakota’s sweeping ban is struck down by voters, but I can’t help but wonder if abortion-rights opponents may quietly hope that the initiative succeeds and the state law disappears.
Indeed, let’s not forget that even ardent opponents of abortion rights were not necessarily thrilled when the South Dakota measure became law.
“I am very purely pro-life, and I would not have undertaken this strategy,” Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway says. She says it plays into “somewhat hysterical claims of extremism” by the left and “seems to give a largely dying, discredited (abortion rights) movement a little bit of gas.” […]
South Dakota state Sen. J.P. Duniphan, who describes herself as a “pro-life” Republican, opposed the law. “It is a very unnecessary, expensive challenge,” she says. “And it is dividing the party.”
Indeed, reading over the reactions from March, there seemed to be something of a consensus: the South Dakota initiative is a huge gamble for opponents of abortion rights, which they very well may lose. Politically, the pro-choice community will use it as a rallying cry, and legally, there are still five votes on the Supreme Court that support Roe’s precedent.
Isn’t it at least possible that some abortion opponents in South Dakota may vote to undo the ban so as to avoid losing court battles and establishing court precedents in the coming months? If there’s a sizable percentage of the anti-abortion movement in the state who believed the law was a mistake, don’t be surprised if they vote strategically in November.