South Dakota judge delays ruling on lawsuit against pro-abortion ballot measure

Live Action News ^ | July 12, 2024 | Bridget Sielicki

[Morgana]

A federal judge has decided not to rule on a South Dakota lawsuit challenging a pro-abortion ballot measure initiative — for now. The ballot measure would enshrine the “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution, and Judge Karen Schreier said she wants to hear from a state court before she rules.

In June, the pro-life organization Life Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit against the ballot measure, alleging that the group behind the measure, Dakotans for Health, broke election laws in its process of gathering petition signatures, and misled people as to what they were signing.

In her Friday ruling, Judge Schreier said she wants to wait for a state court to rule on an issue within the lawsuit before she intervenes. That issue pertains to a 2018 state law governing ballot petitions. Dakotans for Health cites state ballot measure restrictions established in 2019 and 2020 in its defense, arguing that because those restrictions were overturned, the 2018 law was also invalidated. In contrast, Life Defense Fund contends that the 2018 law still stands and says that Dakotans for Health did not follow the protocol established in 2018 when submitting its ballot measure. A motion hearing in the state-court lawsuit is scheduled for next week.

“If the state court ruling contradicts a federal court order, this court will consider the issue at that time,” Schreier stated.

Meanwhile, Dakotans for Health has also filed a federal lawsuit to invalidate the Life Defense Fund suit.

Currently, nearly all preborn children in South Dakota are protected from abortion. Life Defense Fund has previously warned that if passed, the pro-abortion amendment known as Amendment G, would not only undo the pro-life law, but also allow abortion up to the point of birth. The amendment would also eliminate measures including parental notification laws, conscience protections for medical professionals, and facility requirements for abortion businesses.

“We cannot allow abortion through nine months of pregnancy to be written into our state’s founding document,” said Life Defense Fund’s Co-Chair Rep. Jon Hansen in a video. “The results would be completely devastating to life in our state.”