A state court judge's ruling Monday keeps an abortion-rights question on the November ballot in South Dakota.
Judge John Pekas dismissed a , Life Defense Fund, that sought to have the question removed even though supporters turned in more than enough valid signatures to put it on the ballot.
鈥淭hey have thrown everything they could dream up to stop the people of South Dakota from voting on this matter,鈥� Adam Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health, said in a statement after the ruling. 鈥淭his is another failed effort by a small group opposed to giving women the option to terminate pregnancies caused by rape and incest or to address dangerous pregnancies affecting the life and health of women.鈥�
Republican Rep. Jon Hansen, who is a co-chair of the Life Defense Fund, and a lawyer for the group did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press on Monday.
South Dakota is one of 14 states now enforcing a ban on abortion at every stage of pregnancy, a possibility the opened the door to in 2022, when it overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the nationwide right to abortion.
The amendment supported by Dakotans for Health would bar the state from regulating 鈥渁 pregnant woman鈥檚 abortion decision and its effectuation鈥� in the first trimester, but it would allow second-trimester regulations 鈥渙nly in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.鈥�
Since Roe was overturned, have gone the way abortion-rights groups wanted them to.
This year, similar in five states, plus a New York equal rights question that would ban discrimination based on "pregnancy outcomes," among other factors.
Advocates are waiting for signatures to be verified to get questions on the ballot this year in four more states, including Nebraska, where there could be before voters.
The Associated Press
