A woman should be in charge of deciding whether she will have children and who will be the father of her children. The health and lives of mothers and babies worsen with the intrusion of legislatures into matters that belong to patients and their doctors.
In the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson case, the Supreme Court reversed the constitutional right to abortion nationwide. Constitutional Amendment G has been proposed to restore access to appropriate, safe reproductive healthcare. This amendment is less permissive than South Dakotas current restrictive law (SD 22-17-5.1), implemented after Dobbs. SD 22-17-5.1 permits abortion only to preserve the life of the pregnant woman, classifying most other cases as felonies.
Amendment G would legalize abortion in the first trimester without state regulation. The state could limit abortion in the second trimester and ban the procedure in the third trimester, with exceptions for the life and health of the mother.
Its important to note that neither those who vote YES on Amendment G nor those who vote NO on Amendment G want there to be abortions.
Abortions can be spontaneous, as in the case of miscarriage. If a woman has a miscarriage, the baby spontaneously ejects from the body. Sometimes, this takes days or weeks after it is no longer viable. Early in the first trimester, a miscarriage may appear as light spotting, similar to the start of a menstrual cycle. Between the 12th and 28th weeks, miscarriage is more apparent, with the expulsion of a non-viable fetus and associated abdominal pain. Health care during and after this time is crucial to a womans recovery.
Abortions may also be induced by medical procedures, which by law must be performed by OBGYNs in medical facilities. These same procedures are often necessary to save a womans life after a miscarriage. Restrictive abortion laws have led some physicians not to provide miscarriage management care, resulting in the non-removal of a dead fetus or embryo. This is problematic since there can be excess loss of blood, leading to anemia, damage to reproductive organs due to infections, and possibly sepsis and death if left untreated. The current South Dakota law would prevent this care. SD 22-17-5.1 will force women to leave the state or seek unsafe alternatives, as was common in the 1950s and 1960s.
A YES on Amendment G could decrease both the number of abortions and maternal deaths. According to data from the Pew Research Center, the Guttmacher Institute, and the CDC, legalizing abortion under Roe v. Wade reduced the number of abortions. In fact, the number of abortions occurring in the US in 2020 was 40% lower than it was in 1991 (Guttmacher Institute), and the CDC reported a similar decrease.
International data provides evidence that restrictive abortion laws increase the number of abortions. Before 1966, Romania allowed abortion on request. The restrictive 1966 law by Nicolae Ceauescu led to an increase in unsafe abortions from 20 to 148 per 100,000 live births by 1989.
A no vote is not pro-life. The evidence indicates it would lead to more unsafe abortions, increased maternal deaths, fewer OBGYNs, constraints on emergency care, a reduction in womens healthcare facilities, and an increase in infant mortality. JAMA Pediatrics recently reported that infant mortality rates rose by 7% in the year following Roes reversal, with higher death rates among infants with congenital issues. Similarly, a 2023 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that restrictive laws following Dobbs worsened care for pregnancy-related emergencies, with 68% of OBGYNs reporting a diminished ability to manage emergencies and 64% noting increased pregnancy-related mortality.
No one wants this. Let us say YES to Amendment G to reverse this trend. Lets reduce abortions by supporting reproductive health care and education for our youth before puberty.
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