An anti-abortion rights group is suing the backers of a constitutional amendment to enshrine protections for the procedure.
Life Defense Fund is alleging the Dakotans For Health petition drive violated several state laws – including petition circulator residency laws and failure to give signers a circulator handout.
The group has been teasing a lawsuit for over a month.
The lawsuit is part of an effort by the group to discredit 148 more signatures of the random sample used to place the question on the November ballot.
"If Plaintiffs are able to invalidate 148 more signatures (in addition to the 109 found invalid by the Secretary of State's Office), there would be 257 invalid signatures in the random sample and this Court must invalidate the petition," said the complaint filed by Life Defense Fund on Thursday.
The group is also alleging "bait-and-switch" conduct, where they say circulators asked potential signers if they supported banning the sales tax on groceries—which Dakotans For Health also sponsored. Then, they allege if signers said 'yes,' they were handed the abortion petition to sign.
Life Defense Fund is also asking the court to declare Dakotans for Health, and those who worked with the group, be prohibited from being sponsors or circulators for any ballot question committee for four years.
Constitutional Amendment G would prohibit the state from imposing an abortion ban in the first two trimesters, while allowing for life and health of the mother protections in the third.
Officials with Dakotans For Health call the lawsuit a last-ditch effort to undermine the democratic process.
“The politicians and their lawyers know the people will vote for freedom, so they have gone to court to try to deny us both our right to vote and our right to choose our own health care. It really is as simple as that,” said Nancy Turbak, chair of the Freedom Amendment, in a press release.
They say the lawsuit aims to disenfranchise over 50,000 registered voters who signed the petition to restore reproductive rights.
