South Dakota Abortion History

For your edification and frustration, here is a brief history of abortion legislation in South Dakota prior to the current ban (what follows is taken directly from the Associated Press):

1973: Passed a resolution calling upon Congress to amend the Constitution with protection for the unborn; adopted a new abortion statute, incorporating restrictions on abortion as left to the states by Supreme Court limitations.

1977: Amended the abortion statute requiring that infants born alive in the course of an abortion be given the same medical and health care as other infants.

1980: Passed a law requiring a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion.

1981: Adopted a law protecting parents, medical personnel and institutions from lawsuits based on their failure or refusal to participate in abortion.

1982: Repealed a section of the abortion statute. The change allowed county and municipal hospitals to adopt policies prohibiting the performance of abortions at their facilities.

1993: Passed a law requiring parental notification before a minor undergoes an abortion, informed consent and a 24-hour reflection period. Later struck down in court.

1997: Passed a new parental notification law; passed a law banning a procedure that abortion opponents call partial-birth abortion.

1998: Passed a law protecting pharmacists from having to dispense medications that would be used to cause an abortion or assist in a suicide.

2000: Passed a law prohibiting people other than physicians from performing or inducing abortions.

2004: Passed a bill that tried to ban abortions in South Dakota and allow them only if a woman's life was in danger or if she faced grave health risks. Style-and-form veto by Gov. Mike Rounds.