Abortion debate in South Dakota

On November 4th it isn’t just the White House and Congress that voters will be asked to decide on. There are also a raft of ballot initiatives and referendums on issues from the mundane to the explosive. One example of the latter is a measure in South Dakota which could ban abortions in all but extreme cases.

According to CBS:

“If this is passed in SD it will have a very significant effect on national politics,” Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood for Minnesota and the Dakotas said.

Four other states tried to make abortion an issue this fall but only Colorado succeeded, putting an amendment on the ballot that would define a fertilized human egg as a person.

For Leslee Unruh, one of the supporters of the measure, the ultimate goal is to reverse the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

“I believe the Supreme Court judges will see the information we have this time and Roe v. Wade will be over,” Unruh said.

Opponents say that view is naïve.

“Leslee Unruh and others have this utopian view that if they ban abortion it will never happen,” said Stoesz. “And that’s just not true. It will happen; it’s just that women will die from it.”

Or, as the 18-year-old patient told CBS News, women will just go to a neighboring state where abortion is legal.

Watch the CBS clip here