South Dakota has banned abortion - is your state next?

The worst has happened: South Dakota has banned abortion.

What does the law do? South Dakota's criminal ban outlaws abortion in almost all cases and does not protect a woman in cases of rape or incest or even when her health is in danger. Doctors who violate the ban could face up to five years in prison.

This is the second time that South Dakota has pushed to ban abortion, and the governor is so anti-choice that he has stated, "[a]bortion...should always be illegal." Even as we see increasing restrictions across the country, it is still a shock to hear that any state has actually passed a law to deny women their constitutional right to choose altogether.

The law is part of a larger anti-choice strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether. To quote the South Dakota House Speaker Matthew Michels, "I think the stars are aligned." [Los Angeles Times, 2/25/06]

According to Governor Rounds, who was just in Washington, DC for a national governors' meeting, he is getting support from his peers: "A lot of governors [are] expressing support and wishing us good luck and saying they may have similar proposals that may be favorably looked upon across the United States." [Keloland TV, 2/26/06]

He's right - this legal strategy isn't just happening in South Dakota. Anti-choice lawmakers are pushing similar unconstitutional legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, all with the intent of ending the right to choose through the courts.

Our opponents may be fired up over this latest victory, but we can't let them achieve their goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.

Please join us in sending a message to U.S. governors asking them to hold the line on a woman's right to choose. Click here to send your governor a message today: http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/gov_noabortionbans_0306/wix3k3g4h5k5dii?

Help protect the right to choose in your state by volunteering with your state affiliate. Click here to find the NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliate in your state: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about-us/state-affiliates/