South Dakota Voters Weigh Abortion Ban

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In South Dakota, voter turnout is expected to top 72 percent. That is amazing, given that neither of the U.S. senators is up for re-election and the one House of Representatives race is not very competitive. So what is driving voters in South Dakota? A proposed statewide ban on abortion.

NPR's Mike Pesca reports.

MIKE PESCA: A little over seven months ago, David Bereit had dropped into the Capitol Building in Pierre, South Dakota. Bereit, the president of the American Life League, was there to thank and support legislators for passing the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the country.

Back then, he predicted the law would be put directly to voters in the form of a referendum.

Mr. DAVID BEREIT (President, American Life League): I really think we're going to see a public relations battle that probably will be comparable to New Hampshire primary or something of that magnitude. This is going to be a huge public relations struggle.

PESCA: He was right in fact, but wrong in scope. The referendum, known as Referred Law Number 6, is on next Tuesday's ballot. And while stakes and emotions run high in South Dakota, it hasn't become the onslaught on the scale of a tight Senate race.

Today, Bereit places the blame for that at the feet of some national abortion groups, which he says think of South Dakota's nearly all-out ban as too much, too soon.

Mr. BEREIT: There's been a very silent response from many national pro-life organizations. It's been somewhat surprising. And on the pro-life side, I think the local folks in South Dakota were hoping for more national involvement in terms of funding.

PESCA: Still, almost $4 million has been raised by the two main groups involved in the vote. Opposing the ban is the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, which has raised a little under $2 million, almost entirely from out of state sources. Advocating for the referendum, which allows the anti-abortion law to take effect, is Vote Yes for Life - which has raised a little over $2 million, mostly from in-state sources.

Leslie Unruh, chair of that group, says South Dakotans will vote based on these three factors.

Ms. LESLIE UNRUH (Chair, Vote Yes for Life): You know, what is their church saying, what is their family saying, and what are their neighbors saying.

PESCA: Jan Nicolay who heads the group against the ban, concedes that on the first of those three points, her side is at a disadvantage.

Ms. JAN NICOLAY (South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families): You know, it's like somebody said to me the other day: you know, you don't have a political meeting every week, Janice. And at first it didn't dawn on me, and then I realized they were - what they were talking about is that, you know, all these churches preach on it from the pulpit every Sunday - and so it is, you know, they do have an advantage.

PESCA: Nicolay says that even though the Catholic Church has been very vocal in their support of the ban, allowing signs on their property and urging parishioners to vote via church mailings, she thinks that her side will be able to convince many Catholics. Her analysis hinges on one aspect of the ban that seems to be the swing provision: the fact that the bill does not allow for exceptions for rape or incest - although the bill's backers claim there is an exception, namely that the morning-after pill can still be taken.

According to Nicolay, calling that an exception for rape and incest is a distortion, one that her group has spent a large percent of their budget trying to address.

(Soundbite of ad)

ANNOUNCER: The Rapid City Journal opposes Referred Law Six because it doesn't include exceptions for victims of rape and incest.

PESCA: The latest poll shows that most South Dakotans would support the ban with the provision. But right now, 52 percent are against the ban, 42 for it.

If South Dakotans are confused about what the ban actually says, voters might be reluctant to vote it into law, says Don Dahlin, a professor at the University of South Dakota.

Prof. DON DAHLIN (University of South Dakota): There's a no vote, not because people have made a judgment they want to vote no, but they're just not sure, and so they're taking the safe stance: let's keep the status quo.

PESCA: If the referendum passes on Tuesday, it will set up a law that most every legal expert thinks directly challenges the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade ruling of 1973. If the referendum fails, South Dakota legislators will have to decide if they want to pass a bill with an explicit rape and incest provision.

Either way, national groups will draw huge lessons for the never-ending fight over abortion.

Mike Pesca, NPR News.

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