What Was Gov. Rounds THINKING?! (and a comment on EC)

Here is the statement Gov. Rounds released to the press upon signing the abortion ban. Many of us in SD believe that he did not want to sign the ban. As you can see from my post below, he vetoed a very similar ban in 2004. While I am not surprised that he signed it, I think he caved to political pressure. However, I think this is going to come around and bite him in the ass - even he does feels the ban is extreme, and yesterday's headlines were full of him trying to distance himself from the ban. (This lack of courage of his convictions, by the way, is not a South Dakota value - and that won't help him, either.)

I will add a link to the text of the law soon. Meanwhile, some of you have asked me if EC (Emergency Contraception) is also banned under the current legislation. The answer is no, and Rounds says this in his statement, though the EC must be taken before a pregnancy is confirmed.

Wise readers might be concerned, as I am, that legislation to force women to take a pregnancy test before taking EC may be on the horizon. This would mean that it would then be too late to take EC.

In case you don't know what EC is, I'll provide a quick definition. EC prevents conception by either preventing the egg from being released or preventing it from being fertilized- it will not cause the abortion of an established pregnancy. It can be taken up to 5 days (120) hours after intercourse.

Just so it's absolutely clear - EC works the same way that birth control pills work. It is not an abortifacient. For more detailed information, click here.