Petition filing could halt S. Dakota abortion ban

Overturning the ban has bipartisan support in a conservative state. This is an issue Ds should embrace nationally. Educating voters on the extreme views of the GOP on abortion and those that support those views is a winning issue for Ds.

From Reuters,

The South Dakota measure is considered one of the most restrictive in the United States. It bans nearly all abortions, even when pregnancies result from incest or rape. The law says that if a woman's life is in jeopardy, doctors must try to save the fetus as well as the woman. Doctors who perform an abortion could receive a $5,000 fine and five years in prison.

About 1,200 volunteers circulated copies of the petition around the state, and the coalition said it had signatures from all 66 counties in South Dakota. Thousands of Democrats and Republicans alike signed onto the petition, which calls on the state to allow voters to decide the issue.

"The people of South Dakota ... do not support this extreme ban," said Jan Nicolay, a former Republican state representative and co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families.

Ds should be hanging this albatross around every GOP neck.