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(2/22/2006)
South Dakota Senate Passes Abortion Ban Bill must reconcile with House version before going to governor for signature PIERRE, S.D., Feb. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, the State Senate of South Dakota passed HB1215, a bill to protect the lives of women and children. The landmark legislation will make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy except to save the mother's life. "Passage of this legislation culminates years of legislative efforts and fact finding," commented Leslee Unruh, founder of the Alpha Center, a pregnancy center that serves women contemplating abortion, as well as those suffering from the negative mental, emotional, and physical effects of abortion. "The overwhelming mass of research could be ignored no longer. Abortion hurts women. South Dakota's legislature heard the cry of those who have been harmed by abortion and passed this bill to protect women and children." The House previously passed the legislation with a vote of 47 to 22. The tally of the Senate vote today was 23 to 12. The bill will now go to the Governor's desk for a signature. A Task Force was convened at the direction of the legislature. The committee met during the summer and fall of 2005, heard testimony, and collected research concerning the effects of abortion. The Task Force collected over 3,500 pages of research and over 2,000 affidavits from women who have had an abortion. The Task Force found, "that it is simply unrealistic to expect that a pregnant mother is capable of being involved in the termination of the life of her own child without risk of suffering significant psychological trauma and distress." Additionally, in regard to maternal death due to abortion, the Task Force wrote, "it is clear that the CDC statistics do not include the vast majority of deaths due to abortions because they do not include deaths from suicide, deaths from physical complications from abortions, and deaths due to any of the cancers in which abortions may be a significant contributing factor." During the confirmation hearings of Justices Roberts and Alito, both stated that a judicial precedent can be overturned when new information is brought forward. The information gathered and summarized in the 70 page of the Task Force Report has never been presented in any court for consideration. "Now is the appropriate time for this legislation. Governor Rounds, please sign this bill," pleaded Unruh.
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