CNN is predicting that the referendum on South Dakota’s abortion ban will fail.
The abortion ban was unconstitutional and draconian. Even as an opponent of abortion, I would have voted against it. Despite the push from churches to get people to vote for it, I’m not surprised it failed. It would have been struck down regardless, and it won’t prevent abortion. The South Dakota Legislature and Gov. Rounds would have been smarter to pursue an incremental attack on abortion.
Even for those many South Dakotans who oppose abortion on moral and ethical grounds, this ban was ill-conceived and doomed to failure.
The State Senate will also look a little different in January – Sandy Jerstad and Scott Heidepriem beat anti-abortion Republican incumbents, and Nancy Turbak and Tom Katus won their races for open seats against ban supporters.