South Dakota Abortion Rights Measure Fails

South Dakota is one of about a dozen states that's imposed a total abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The state also threatens doctors with prison time. On Tuesday, voters rejected Amendment G, a ballot measure to enshrine a right to abortion throughout the first trimester, with some regulations permitted after that. 

In May, the campaign for Amendment G submitted nearly double the amount of signatures required to get on the ballot, and in June, the state’s Republican secretary of state approved the ballot measure. Just getting on the ballot proved to be a hard-fought battle: In the lead-up to the signature deadline, anti-abortion activists in the state posed as government officials and called voters to try and convince them to withdraw their signatures for the abortion rights measure. The secretary of state had to warn that “scammers are pushing the voters to challenge the Abortion Rights ballot measure petitions,” and voters across the state reported receiving confusing, misleading, and intimidating phone calls from anti-abortion activists who falsely claimed to work with the state.

Even after Amendment G qualified for the ballot, it continued to face an uphill battle in the deep-red state. Anti-abortion groups continued to threaten legal action, and, while polls showed the ballot measure held a 20-point lead over its anti-abortion opponents in June, by the end of October, support for the measure dipped substantially. In the final week before Election Day, the "Yes" vote polled at 50% support while the "No" vote received 47% support.

The failure of Amendment G means abortion will remain totally banned in the state. It’s a gutting loss for patients and health care providers across South Dakota, who will continue to live under one of the most dangerous and restrictive abortion laws in the nation.