Members of the state House of Representatives passed a resolution asking the US Supreme Court to reconsider and overturn the Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. Authors of the resolution lay out several grievances they have with the 1973 decision and those that came after. They say the Supreme Court made errors such as failure to acknowledge that the unborn child is a whole, separate, unique, living human being. They say the verdict was based on false assumptions, such as presuming the woman’s consent would be informed and voluntary. Representative Lynne DiSanto spoke in favor of the resolution.
“The damage that we perceive that the Roe decision has caused to the intrinsic rights of children and mothers, and to their persons, is too grave and too vast, and error of the Court too plain, for us not to act on behalf of those we serve,” DiSanto says. “The injustice to the child whose life is terminated by an abortion, the injustice to the mothers, and the harm to the rights, interests, and health of their mothers which has more recently become apparent.”
Opponents say South Dakotans have already stated how they feel about the issue twice in the past ten years when they chose not to pass ballot measures banning abortion.
The majority of Representatives voted in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 1004. It passed with a vote of 60 to ten.