Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling by the Supreme Court, which decriminalized abortion, opponents of a woman’s right to choose have sought to chip away at this gain in the struggle for women’s equality. Rounds and his allies say they expect the new South Dakota law to be legally challenged in the courts. But they say they intend to use its passage by a state legislature as an opening to go all the way to the high court in “a direct assault on Roe v. Wade.”

In response, defenders of a woman’s right to choose abortion are organizing protests and raising funds for the battle ahead. Planned Parenthood and others have called a national “day of solidarity” March 9, with rallies planned at federal courthouses in many cities.

“Patients can continue to receive the full range of services at our South Dakota health center,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, the only abortion provider in that state. The Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls performs some 800 abortions in South Dakota a year.

“What you’re going to see is bans don’t stop women from getting abortions. It just makes it unsafe and illegal,” Amy Everitt of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told the San Mateo Daily Journal. Women who have the means to travel out of the state will do so, leaving others, especially those in the working class and rural areas with lower incomes, with little option, she said.

According to the National Organization for Women, a federal judge is likely to suspend the South Dakota ban until a final ruling is issued, perhaps by the Supreme Court.

On March 2, the Mississippi state senate passed a bill that would allow abortions only in the case of rape or incest. Mississippi has already in place some of the most restrictive abortion laws, requiring a 24-hour waiting period, counseling before any abortion, and requiring consent from both parents for minors seeking the procedure.  
 
 
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