03-04-1997

STATE REPORTS - SOUTH DAKOTA: SENATE PASSES "PARTIAL-BIRTH" BAN

 
      The SD Senate handily passed a bill to ban "partial-birth"
 abortions on 2/27, making it the first state this year to pass a
 ban on the procedure.  SD becomes the third state to pass such a
 ban, joining OH and MI, which both approved bans in '96.  The
 bill makes performing a "partial-birth" abortion a felony.  Bill
 co-sponsor/state Sen. Alan Aker (R): "We in South Dakota can lend
 our voice to a national ban by overwhelmingly voting for this
 today."  According to opponents, however, a ban on the procedure
 "would have no real-life effect" in SD, because "partial-birth"
 abortions aren't currently performed in the state.  State Sen.
 Mel Olson (D): "There have been no third-trimester abortions done
 in South Dakota.  There have been no partial-birth abortions done
 in South Dakota, nor are there likely to be."  The Senate vote --
 which was 33-0 -- nearly completes legislative action on the
 bill, which now heads to pro-life Gov. Bill Janklow (R) "for his
 decision" on whether to sign it into law.  Janklow was honored in
 1/97 by South Dakota for Life "for his strong record of opposing
 abortion" (Mercer, RAPID CITY JOURNAL, 2/28).
      DASCHLE IMPACT:  Aker, who plans to seek the GOP Senate
 nomination to challenge pro-choice Senate Min. Leader Tom Daschle
 (D) in '98, "immediately framed" the 2/27 vote "as a rebuke of
 ... Daschle from his home state's legislature."  Daschle worked
 to uphold Pres. Clinton's veto of a federal ban on "partial-
 birth" abortions in '96.  Aker: "Sen. Daschle has led the effort
 on behalf of a radicalized pro-abortion fringe to keep this
 procedure legal.  Every one of the state senators from his own
 party just voted opposite of Sen. Daschle.  He's not representing
 South Dakota."  On 2/26, Daschle issued a statement saying he
 wants "to outlaw late-term abortions 'except in the rarest of
 cases'" in the U.S.: "The key issue in that effort is the
 definition of health, and I am working to write a clear, narrow,
 constitutional definition."  On 2/27, Daschle spokesperson Bob
 Martin said Daschle "isn't ready yet to publicly release his
 proposed definition of health": "They're in the middle of pretty
 delicate negotiations.  They're working on the language with both
 sides."  In other abortion-related action, the SD House on 2/27
 gave "final approval" to a bill to require "at least one parent
 or legal guardian" be notified when an "unmarried female under 18
 seeks an abortion."  The bill, which was passed 66-2, contains a
 judicial bypass that allows a judge to waive the requirement "in
 special circumstances" (RAPID CITY JOURNAL, 2/28).
 
 
 



The Abortion Report