Supporters of South Dakota Abortion Rights Initiative Submit Enough Signatures to Vote

Supporters of South Dakota’s abortion rights initiative submitted enough signatures Wednesday to get on the November ballot.

The signatures were submitted by Dakotans for Health, an abortion advocacy group leading the effort in the state. The organization submitted the petition with more than 55,000 signatures, which is more than the 35,000 needed to get the petition to the polls.

The push for the amendment to be voted on will likely face legal challenges in the state where there is currently a near-total ban on abortion following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Wade in 2022. South Dakota law prohibits almost all abortions except in cases to save the mother’s life.

“[We] We feel really good about our chances of qualifying, and we’ve done our own internal validation and benchmarking with voter files and things like that and we feel like we’ll have a lot of signatures and be on the ballot in November,” Dakotans for Healthcare co-founder Rick Weiland said. he told The Hill.

Dakotans for Health and other state supporters hope to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would make first-trimester abortion legal in all instances.

“And what our amendment does is just reinstate Roe v. Wade. Wade,” Weiland said. “The language is almost identical and would allow access to the right to abortion during the second trimester and the language of Roe, which indicates that the state can regulate but not prohibit in the second trimester and the regulations are things like making sure it is a professional licensed physician and a licensed facility.”

Abortions would only be allowed in the third trimester for reasons such as saving the mother’s life, he added. “So basically we’re trying to codify Roe v. Wade in our state constitution,” Weiland said.

Weiland said the group has been collecting signatures since November 2022.

Dakotans for Health’s language is similar to measures approved by voters in other states, notably in Vermont, Michigan, California and Ohio. Several additional states plan to put abortion protection measures on the ballot in November.

Signatures now go to the state’s Secretary of State, Monae Johnson, whose office has until mid-August to validate the initiative.

“Today, we proudly present this petition to the Secretary of State, affirming our commitment to allowing voters, not politicians, to determine the course of reproductive rights in our state,” Weiland said in a press release.