Most Americans want restrictions on abortion, and polling in South Dakota – where almost all abortions are illegal in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade – represents the latest example.
A 2005 “trigger law,” enacted in South Dakota to make abortion illegal in the event of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, came into effect on June 24, 2022, after the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson decision. According to the Argus Leader, the law penalizes “any person who administers to any pregnant female or who prescribes or procures for any pregnant female any medicine, drug, or substance or uses or employs any instrument or other means with intent thereby to procure an abortion, unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female.” Those in violation are guilty of a Class 6 felony punishable by up to two years in jail and/or a fine of $4,000.
New polling conducted by Emerson College Polling and The Hill reveals that nearly half of South Dakotans expressed support for their state’s preborn protections. According to the poll, 45% of voters support the law which prohibits all abortions except to save the life of the mother, while 39% of voters oppose the law, and a further 16% are unsure. The poll also found that only 12% of voters listed abortion as their top priority in the upcoming midterm elections.
Polling has consistently shown that most Americans support significant abortion restrictions. As Live Action News reported in an analysis of polling on abortion, Gallup found that only 15% of Americans believe abortion should be legal until birth. According to a Marist poll, nearly half of all Americans believe abortion should either never be permitted, in cases of risk to the life of the mother, or only in cases of rape or incest. Another 22% of Americans believe abortion should be restricted to the first trimester, resulting in a total of approximately 71% who support significant legal protections for preborn babies – a finding that has been reflected in other polling.
In the post-Roe political environment, opinions about abortion policy vary widely across states, with some of the most populous states in the country having enacted stalwart abortion protections. A 2020 Guttmacher Institute study found that two of these states – California and New York – together comprised roughly one third of all abortions committed in the United States, at 264,000 abortions. Both New York and California have recently enacted laws protecting and even promoting abortions.
Support for South Dakota’s sweeping pro-life protections comes as the state enacted a number of pro-life protections in the past two years, including laws passed in 2022 preventing the coercion of women to obtain abortions and restricting the abortion pill, as well as a 2021 provision outlawing abortion based on Down syndrome diagnosis.
A pro-abortion group, Dakotans for Health, is seeking to push a vote on a November 2024 ballot measure that would codify the right to abortion in South Dakota. South Dakota pro-lifers have established the Life Defense Fund to oppose the initiative. “Beginning this November, we must stand next to their petition circulators, explain to the public how radical this amendment is, and encourage our fellow citizens not to sign the petition,” said Rep. Jon Hansen, a member of the Life Defense Fund committee, as reported by Keloland Media Group.
