Court asked to rehear abortion issue
7 Years and untold tons of taxpayer funds wasted later, the State is still wasting funds for zealots who ultimately want to ban abortion in South Dakota, one way or another.
Friday was the deadline for filing petitions for a rehearing, and the suicide clause is the last issue to be contended from the almost seven-year court battle among the state, anti-abortion organizations and Planned Parenthood on South Dakota 2005 abortion laws.
“We are disappointed that the state of South Dakota is continuing to waste taxpayer dollars pursuing this case, especially at a time when South Dakota families are struggling, like the rest of the country, to make ends meet,” said Jen Aulwes, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.
The parties also have entered new litigation recently over laws passed this year that require women to wait 72 hours and consult with a counselor at a pregnancy help center before an abortion procedure.
In early September, the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier’s decision to strike down portions of the 2005 law requiring doctors to tell patients that the procedure increases the likelihood of suicide.
But a three-judge panel on the federal appeals court overturned part of Schreier’s ruling in which she said it was unconstitutional to require doctors in South Dakota to tell patients they have “an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protection under the United States Constitution and under the laws of South Dakota.”