The effort echoes similar actions in seven other states where voters have approved abortion rights measures, including four — California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont — that put abortion rights in their constitution.
Supporters of a South Dakota abortion rights initiative submitted far more signatures than required Wednesday to make the ballot this fall. But its outcome is unclear in the conservative state, where Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the measure and a major abortion rights advocate doesn't support it.
Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said backers of the ballot initiative gathered more than 55,000 signatures to submit to Secretary of State Monae Johnson, easily exceeding the 35,017 valid signatures needed to make the November general election. Johnson’s office has until Aug. 13 to validate the constitutional initiative. A group opposing the measure said it's already planning a legal challenge to the petition alleging the signatures weren't gathered correctly.
Weiland said the ballot measure is based on Roe v. Wade, which had established a nationwide right to abortion. It would bar the state from regulating “a pregnant woman's abortion decision and its effectuation" in the first trimester, but allow second-trimester regulations “only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman," such as licensing requirements for providers and facility requirements for safety and hygiene.
Weiland said he's hopeful once the measure is on the ballot, “another conversation will occur with some of these organizations.” He cited his group's hard work to get the measure this far, and said measure backers are “optimistic that we're going to have the resources we need to be able to get the message out.”
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