An act of social cruelty: South Dakota bars abortions for victims of rape and incest

The cruelty of the new law is demonstrated by the refusal of the state senate, in response to appeals from opponents of the bill, to add exceptions for rape and incest. The upper house passed the bill by a vote of 23-12. The state senators debated for only one hour whether to compel victims of rape and incest to have their abuser’s baby.

The right-to-life forces have been emboldened by hopes that the two new Supreme Court justices named by President Bush, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associated Justice Samuel Alito, will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if a direct challenge is brought before the high court.

The bill is the first direct challenge to abortion rights since the high court reaffirmed the 1973 decision in its 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. After the retirement last month of Sandra O’Connor, five of the justices who comprised the 6-3 majority in the 1992 decision remain on the court.

The Bush appointments still leave a presumptive 5-4 majority in favor of abortion rights, but spokesmen for one right-to-life group cited the possibility that Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, who is 85 and a supporter of Roe v. Wade, might retire or die before the South Dakota case makes its way through district and appeals courts to the Supreme Court.

The new state law takes effect July 1, but will undoubtedly be challenged in court before then, forestalling any immediate impact. It criminalizes the provision of an abortion by a doctor, with a sentence of as many as five years in prison. A woman receiving an abortion could not be charged.

South Dakota is a rural farming state in the upper Midwest, not a southern “Bible belt” state. There is considerable doubt that the population as a whole supports an absolute prohibition on abortion rights, and the Republican-controlled legislature refused to put the matter to a referendum vote, fearing the ban might be defeated.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/abor-m04.shtml