Effort to Repeal SD Abortion Ban

Planned Parenthood Applauds Grassroots Effort to Repeal South Dakota Abortion Ban

SIOUX FALLS, SD — Today Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) applauded the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families' announcement of the launch of a major grassroots mobilization to refer the state abortion ban to the November ballot. The referral will allow the voters of South Dakota to vote to repeal the state's law criminalizing abortion. The law, signed March 6, 2006, by Gov. Mike Rounds (R), endangers the health of women in South Dakota and violates the right of women and families to make private, personal health care decisions.

Kate Looby, South Dakota state director of PPMNS, issued the following statement on today's referral:

"We are pleased to see such a broad coalition of mainstream South Dakotans standing up to fight this ban. This law was pushed by politicians who want to impose their own religious views on others. This is a personal issue between a woman, her family, and her doctor — and the families of South Dakota want the government to stay out of it.

"Planned Parenthood's top priorities are the health and safety of our patients. We are the only provider in South Dakota that women can turn to for abortion care. We will do everything possible to protect our patients and their families. On behalf of the women who rely on us for their health care, we support the referral process, the effort to defeat this extreme ban and our friends who are leading the fight. This referral will give all South Dakotans the chance to protect their families and vote their values."

Across the country, extremist politicians are attempting to put roadblocks between women and reproductive health care. There are approximately 950 bills related to reproductive health care pending in state legislatures — the vast majority of those bills aim to impede access to family planning and abortion services. Following South Dakota's abortion ban, 11 other states are now considering legislation aimed at criminalizing abortion.

To stem the tide of legislation attacking women and families across the country, Planned Parenthood Federation of America will launch a major initiative next week called the Stand with the States Campaign. The campaign will fight abortion bans in states nationwide, and work to give families access to the health care and medically accurate sex education they need to prevent unintended pregnancy. One of the national campaign's first steps will be to support the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families in its fight to defeat the South Dakota abortion ban.