Governorhedges on bill to ban abortion

By The Associated Press and Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer

PIERRE - Gov. Mike Rounds said his decision whether to sign a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in South Dakota will rest with the details.

Rounds said Thursday that it’s his policy not to publicly discuss his position on specific legislation before it gets to his desk.

HB1215 is scheduled for a second vote today in the state House of Representatives, where it passed 47-22 last week.

Pressed Thursday in a phone interview broadcast on MSNBC television to “give us a clue,” he responded, “I am pro-life, and I do know that my personal belief is that the best way to approach the elimination of abortion is one step at a time. And I do think that this court will ultimately take apart Roe v. Wade one step at a time.”

At a news conference in Lead two weeks ago, Rounds said he would “look favorably” on HB1215 if it addresses the concerns he raised when he vetoed a ban two years ago.

“Our goal is to save life. If the bills that are in question will do that, I will look favorably upon them,” the governor said. “My understanding is that they have tried to address the issues that we brought out two years ago.”

Rounds said in Lead that he had not read HB1215, which would allow abortions only to save the life of a pregnant woman and would make it a felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison for doctors and others to perform an abortion.

Rounds said Thursday that his lawyers again will be watching for the kinds of technical problems that led him to veto the bill two years ago.

“For us, we want to make sure the bill is in as good a form as possible if it gets that far, and we want to make sure we do not lose the safeguards currently in place for the regulation of abortion in South Dakota,” he said.

The governor indicated that he doubts the U.S. Supreme Court is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Personally, do I think that they’re going to step in and do a frontal attack or accept a frontal attack? No, I don’t. But there are a lot of people in South Dakota and across the nation that believe that it’s worth a try.”

An amended version of HB1215, intended as a vehicle to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that upheld a woman’s right to have an abortion, passed the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 22-13.

HB1215 returns to the House today for consideration with the amendment, which states that “due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings.”

If the House concurs with the Senate version — and Rounds said he believes it will — he will have 15 days to act.

Most predict that the bill easily pass in the House again.

“It is on a greased rail to the governor’s desk,” House Minority Leader Dale Hargens, D-Miller, said Thursday. Hargens opposed HB1215 during the first House vote because it did not include exceptions for rape and incest victims or for the health of the mother. It does provide an exception to save the life of the mother.

House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center, predicted it would pass by about the same margin. He said he doubts it will have to go to a conference committee because the amendment was proposed by HB1215’s chief sponsor, Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon.

If HB1215 is signed into law, South Dakota would be the first state in the country to ban abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Asked whether he believes Rounds will sign HB1215, Rhoden said, “I don’t have any indication that he won’t.”

Rhoden said the bill addresses issues Rounds had with a similar measure he vetoed in 2004 for technical reasons.

Supporters predict that the amendment will strengthen HB1215.

“I think it makes it more likely to be taken up by the Supreme Court,” Rep. Elizabeth Kraus, R-Rapid City, said. “It makes a stronger case about states’ rights.”

“It’s an even better bill,” Rep. Kathy Miles, D-Sioux Falls, said.

One issue that opponents have raised is the cost of litigation. Hunt has talked about an anonymous $1 million donor who is willing to offset the expenses.

Asked this week about the identity of the donor, Hunt said he does not know but that he believes the offer is credible.

Meanwhile, other offers of donations are coming into the governor’s office, Hunt said. Through a parliamentary procedure, he offered a bill that passed the House on Thursday that would set up a litigation fund. The vote was 63-3. It now goes to the Senate.

Mark Johnston, Rounds’ spokesman, confirmed Hunt’s report of new offers of help.

“We have had people calling our office and stopping by the office wondering how individuals can donate money,” Johnston said Thursday.

Efforts by opponents in the House and Senate debates to set up a fund failed because they were offered as amendments with an appropriation and therefore would have required a two-thirds vote to pass.

“Those were thinly veiled attempts” to defeat HB1215, Rhoden said.

Hargens and others who might have supported an abortion measure will again vote “no” because it lacks exceptions.

“If we can’t make exceptions for rape and incest, something is wrong,” Hargens said.

Contact Celeste Calvitto at 394-8438 or celeste.calvitto@rapidcityjournal.com