The Abortion Ban Makes NO EXCEPTIONS

Just to reiterate, that's N-O E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N-S for survivors (let's start saying "survivors" instead of "victims") of rape and incest. Here's one letter to the Argus Leader that got it right:

Michelle Wolf's letters [are] all basically saying the same thing: she believes HB1215 provides an exception for rape and incest. This is not true, no matter how many times she says it.

Her idea of an exception? Emergency contraception. Of course, the same legislators who passed the abortion ban also rejected bills that would have require[d] ERs to provide rape victims with EC, so many will never know it exists. If they do, they might be in a town with one pharmacist who refuses to fill the prescription (thanks again to the Legislature). Also, victims have to access EC within 72 hours for it to be effective. Not an easy task for a 13-year-old incest victim, even if you don't consider all the other barriers.

The people who passed HB1215 were not concerned about rape and incest victims when this bill was being discussed, and now that they realize how opposed the people of South Dakota are to it, they're trying to back-pedal. It's too late. We know this bill is extreme.

Caitlin Collier

If a grown woman I know who works at Planned Parenthood can't get EC on a Friday night, what's a 13-year-old gonna do? Better make sure to get raped during the work week. Thanks, SD Legislature, for your compassion. (And thanks, Kelsey, for the heads-up.)