A bill banning abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy is continuing through the South Dakota legislature. Members of the House State Affairs Committee passed the measure with a 12 to one vote.
Proponents of Senate Bill 72 say fetuses at 22 weeks of pregnancy are capable of feeling pain. Representative Isaac Latterell says they need to be protected.
“And today you have the power to stop a grave injustice,” Latterell says. “We’ve allowed this for too long because of scientific uncertainty. But today the medical science is clear and compelling. And we have a moral obligation to protect these children from the inhumane suffering and the death of these horrific procedures.”
The bill makes exceptions if there is a serious health risk to the fetus's mother.
Opponents say that’s not enough. Libby Skarin is the Policy Director for the ACLU of South Dakota. She says the bill doesn’t contain exceptions for fetuses with severe medical problems who won’t survive outside the womb.
“Simply put, it is callous and degrading to force a woman to continue a very much wanted pregnancy, knowing that her child will not survive,” Skarin says. “Each woman does, of course, have the absolute right to chose to continue that pregnancy, and that choice must be respected. But the state should not remove that choice and force a woman to do so.”
Opponents also say the measure is unconstitutional.
The bill now heads to the full House floor for further debate.