Restore Abortion Rights in South Dakota
Besides the presidential election, South Dakotans should pay attention to a key amendment they’ll find when they go to the ballot box in 2024: enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution. I urge all students at USD to vote in 2024, and to vote in favor of restoring this right.
There’s been constant misinformation about what the amendment in South Dakota would do, but it’s actually very simple. It follows the standard that Roe v. Wade set for the country. It was followed for 50 years before it was overturned. In the first trimester, abortions are legal. In the second trimester, South Dakota may regulate abortion in ways that are relevant to health of the pregnant person. In the third trimesters, abortion can be fully restricted unless as a life-saving procedure.
As it stands now, all abortions in South Dakota are illegal, except those that are necessary to preserve the mother’s life. This is the standard for the entire pregnancy, ad has no provisions in the case of rape or incest. How can a government that claims to care for its citizens force someone to carry their rapist’s baby to term? Pair this with rising childcare expenses, along with the 9% decrease in average household income, and South Dakota forces people to give birth, and either give that child away to an overburdened foster system, or be pushed further and further into poverty and debt, all through no fault of their own.
It’s important to understand that abortion restrictions don’t just impact abortion, but they reduce the quality of healthcare in the state as a whole. The Argus Leader has written about the OB-GYN shortage South Dakota, and how it is only made worse by the abortion ban. These healthcare workers don’t just provide abortions, but also screen for breast cancer, perform ultrasounds, and assist in high-risk pregnancies. Healthcare professionals fleeing the state, because they’re threatened with felonies for caring for their patients, deprive hundreds of thousands in the state of life-saving medical care.
Restoring abortion is a common sense policy that gives people the necessary time to make an informed decision while still setting reasonable regulations in place. Abortion is an issue the United States has been grappling with for decades, but fully restricting all access to it drives this country in the wrong direction for access to healthcare and for human rights. This state needs to take a measured, empathetic approach to abortion, and that’s exactly what this bill does.
This amendment will bring South Dakota back to reality. It provides a middle ground where abortions can still be restricted during and after the second trimester, allowing people ample time to determine the best course of action for their future. In 2024, vote to bring healthcare workers back to South Dakota, vote to improve the lives of residents in the state, vote to restore a crucial right for South Dakotans, and vote to legalize abortion.
