South Dakota's House and Senate recently passed abortion restrictions that the Untied States has not seen in over three decades, a move that could affect Wisconsin politics in coming months.
The legislation would make abortion illegal, with violators receiving a $5000 fine and five years in prison. The bill is now sitting on the desk of South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds waiting to be signed into law.
The ban would prohibit abortion even if a woman became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or in the case that pregnancy would endanger the health of the mother. Only women who would die as a result of giving birth could legally have an abortion in South Dakota.
This proposed law comes into conflict with the 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. Supporters of the bill hope it will make its way up to the Supreme Court, forcing the court to either uphold the previous ruling or overturn it.
UW-Madison law and political science professor Donald Downs said the abortion ban would run into two serious problems at the Supreme Court.
'First, it is clearly in conflict with Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood,' Downs said. 'Second, we still have five justices on the Supreme Court that support the basic logic of these decisions.'
Another concern is that other states might begin passing similar legislation, but sociology professor Myra Ferree said other states would probably wait to see the outcome of the South Dakota law on the federal level.
'People in other states are going to wait and make South Dakota the test case and see how the Supreme Court decides,' Ferree said.
Downs cautioned against expecting a definitive outcome in the near future.
'It is going to have to make its way up to the Supreme Court, but you are looking at up to a year until this happens,' Downs said.
Nonetheless, local anti-abortion activists see the proposed South Dakota ban as a victory.
'It's a very encouraging and well-written bill,' said Marc Tuttle, communications director for Pro-Life Wisconsin. 'It's a good first step in challenging Roe v. Wade.'
Downs said the passage of such a bill is not surprising.
'This stuff goes on all the time,' Downs said. 'Groups in states have constantly been trying to chip away at Roe. This is just another opportunity to bring it up again with Justices Roberts and Alito on the court.'
