House Bill 1217 was dropped in the SD Legislature on January 31 during our annual Women 4 Women Lobby Day. It was a long, uphill battle to watch the bill go through two committees, both the floor of the House and Senate and the even longer wait for the Governor to sign in into law on March 22. In May, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed for the injunction. June 27 was the hearing in Sioux Falls. And then yesterday, finally, Judge Schreier issued her ruling, blocking HB 1217 from going into effect. Planned Parenthood calls this a decisive victory for and the women and families of South Dakota.
As written, H.B. 1217 requires a woman who is seeking an abortion to wait at least 72 hours after first meeting with her doctor, the longest and most extreme mandatory delay in the country. In the interim, the woman is required to seek “counseling” at a so-called “pregnancy help center” whose mandate it is to dissuade her from her decision to seek an abortion. The law was to have taken effect July 1. In granting temporary relief from the law, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Karen Schreier found that Planned Parenthood is likely to prevail on its challenge to each of the requirements of the law, including the 72-hour mandatory delay and the “pregnancy help center” requirement.
In finding that the “pregnancy help center” requirement is likely unconstitutional, the Court said:
“Forcing a woman to divulge to a stranger at a pregnancy help center the fact that she has chosen to undergo an abortion humiliates and degrades her as a human being. The woman will feel degraded by the compulsive nature of the Pregnancy Help Center requirements, which suggest that she has made the ‘wrong’ decision, has not really ‘thought’ about her decision to undergo an abortion, or is ‘not intelligent enough’ to make the decision with the advice of a physician. Furthermore, these women are forced into a hostile environment.”
This is exactly what opponents of this law have been saying about crisis pregnancy centers since day one.
Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of PPMNS said of the decision,
“Time after time, South Dakota voters have sent the clear message to their lawmakers that politicians should not interfere with personal medical decisions. And time after time, politicians have ignored the voters. It’s time that someone brought a stop to these costly, intrusive, burdensome and divisive measures. Women and families know their circumstances best, and they need to be able to make personal medical decisions, often very difficult ones, without the government intruding.”
This is only the beginning of what will most likely be a long and costly legal battle between Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the state of South Dakota. It is important to mention that the war has yet to be won. But for the time being, the women and families of South Dakota were the winners in the battle.
~ Carmen, Public Affairs Manager, Planned Parenthood Advocate.