Speaks for itself!
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Staff Reporter
Controversial South Dakota legislation would extend the definition of justifiable homicide to cover killing anyone trying to cause a fetus harm.
Abortion-rights activists charge that Bill 1171 would legalize the murder of abortion providers.
Eight people have died in the U.S. since 1993 in attacks on abortion clinics; hundreds more faced death threats, assault or attempted murder.
The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families calls it “the bill to decriminalize shooting doctors, nurses, patients and volunteers at clinics.”
South Dakota Republican Rep. Phil Jensen, sponsor of the much-amended bill, told the Star he’s just trying to make the laws consistent.
“This code deals with illegal acts,” he said before an afternoon legislative battle over the bill. “Abortion is legal, so it has nothing to do with abortion.”
Nevertheless, Democrats in the legislation were introducing another amendment Tuesday to specifically exclude abortion providers.
“The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers,” Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers, told Mother Jones magazine.
The Mother Jones story has whipped up a storm of protest across the Internet.
There have been no abortion providers in South Dakota since 1994.
The original bill made no mention of “the protection of certain unborn children.” A series of amendments in the state House Judiciary committee added the language, which passed Feb. 9.
“Say, for instance, an ex-boyfriend, or the lover of someone who is married who doesn’t like paying child support, beats a woman on her abdomen to try to abort the baby. That is what this is going to be dealing with,” Jensen said.
The law would protect the woman and “others who come to her aid,” he said.
South Dakota law already allows for a charge if a fetus dies during commission of a crime.
If abortion were illegal in South Dakota, would this law make killing an abortion provider justifiable homicide?
“Anything can happen,” said Jensen, who describes himself as a “Reagan Conservative.”
South Dakota voters rejected a ban on abortion in referendums in 2006 and 2008, Mother Jones reported.
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Staff Reporter
Controversial South Dakota legislation would extend the definition of justifiable homicide to cover killing anyone trying to cause a fetus harm.
Abortion-rights activists charge that Bill 1171 would legalize the murder of abortion providers.
Eight people have died in the U.S. since 1993 in attacks on abortion clinics; hundreds more faced death threats, assault or attempted murder.
The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families calls it “the bill to decriminalize shooting doctors, nurses, patients and volunteers at clinics.”
South Dakota Republican Rep. Phil Jensen, sponsor of the much-amended bill, told the Star he’s just trying to make the laws consistent.
“This code deals with illegal acts,” he said before an afternoon legislative battle over the bill. “Abortion is legal, so it has nothing to do with abortion.”
Nevertheless, Democrats in the legislation were introducing another amendment Tuesday to specifically exclude abortion providers.
“The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers,” Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers, told Mother Jones magazine.
The Mother Jones story has whipped up a storm of protest across the Internet.
There have been no abortion providers in South Dakota since 1994.
The original bill made no mention of “the protection of certain unborn children.” A series of amendments in the state House Judiciary committee added the language, which passed Feb. 9.
“Say, for instance, an ex-boyfriend, or the lover of someone who is married who doesn’t like paying child support, beats a woman on her abdomen to try to abort the baby. That is what this is going to be dealing with,” Jensen said.
The law would protect the woman and “others who come to her aid,” he said.
South Dakota law already allows for a charge if a fetus dies during commission of a crime.
If abortion were illegal in South Dakota, would this law make killing an abortion provider justifiable homicide?
“Anything can happen,” said Jensen, who describes himself as a “Reagan Conservative.”
South Dakota voters rejected a ban on abortion in referendums in 2006 and 2008, Mother Jones reported.
