South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson (R) on Monday certified that petitioners of a state abortion ban (HB 1215), which outlaws abortion in the state except to save a woman's life, have submitted more than the 16,728 signatures required to place the law on hold and put it on a statewide ballot in November, the New York Times reports (Ruethling, New York Times, 6/20). The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families -- a coalition of opponents of the ban -- last month filed the petition Nelson needed to validate the signatures in order to suspend the law pending the outcome of the referendum (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/31). Opponents gathered more than 38,000 signatures out of 500,000 registered voters in the state, the Chicago Tribune reports. According to the Tribune, the large number of signatures collected is "considered an indication of [the] discomfort" voters have with the law's lack of an exception for cases of rape or incest, or to prevent serious injury to the woman. Abortion-rights advocates have said many people are not familiar with the content of the law and will need to be educated before the election, the Tribune reports (Peres, Chicago Tribune, 6/20). "We will encourage all South Dakotans to join us in repealing this extreme law that has embroiled our state in controversy and threatens our government with million dollar lawsuits," Jan Nicolay, who led the petition drive for Healthy Families, said (Gillam, Reuters, 6/19). Leslee Unruh, president of the South Dakota-based Abstinence Clearinghouse, said the campaign to preserve the ban probably is the "loudest cry we've heard" because there are "so many women who have been harmed by abortion" (Brokaw, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/19). According to BBC News, opponents of the ban have said they plan to seek a court challenge to the law if voters support it in the referendum (BBC News, 6/19).