Supporters of a South Dakota abortion rights initiative submitted far more signatures than required Wednesday to make the ballot this fall. But its outcome is unclear in the conservative state, where Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the measure and a major abortion rights advocate doesn't support it. The effort echoes similar actions in seven other states where voters have approved abortion rights measures, including four — California, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont — that put abortion rights in their constitution.
Abortion rights measures also might appear on several other state ballots this year. The signatures were submitted on the same day the Arizona Legislature approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions, and as a ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant, went into effect in Florida. Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said backers of the ballot initiative gathered more than 55,000 signatures to submit to Secretary of State Monae Johnson, easily exceeding the 35,017 valid signatures needed to make the November general election.
Johnson’s office has until Aug. 13 to validate the constitutional initiative. A group opposing the measure said it's already planning a legal challenge to the petition alleging the signatures weren't gathered correctly.
South Dakota outlaws all abortions , except to save the life of the mother, under a trigger law that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Cou.
