Posted by Samantha Pohl, Legislative Assistant

Two important developments occurred yesterday that are of incredible importance to the pro-choice community:  the release by the New York Times of a study on the effects of parental notification laws, and the signing into law of a ban on nearly all abortions in South Dakota.

First, the analysis of the study released by the New York Times in yesterday’s paper finds that laws that require minors to notify or get permission from their parents to have an abortion have not generated the decrease in teen abortion rates that advocates of the laws expected. Some key points were made in the article that I think are particularly thought-provoking. First, abortion rates have been dropping nationwide since the mid-1980s, specifically among teenagers. Second, the parental consent and parental notification laws had no real impact on the number of minors who got pregnant or who, once pregnant, chose to have an abortion. Workers and doctors in abortion clinics claim that the laws had little significance in the lives of teens; they more often noticed parents trying to convince, rather than prohibit, their daughters from proceeding with an abortion. Third, many teenagers report they never considered hiding their pregnancies or pregnancy plans from their mothers.

While this study can potentially be viewed as a gain for the pro-choice community, the South Dakota ban  represents an alarming setback. Governor Mike Rounds made a staggering choice by signing into law  a bill that makes it a crime for doctors, punishable by a $5,000 fine and five years in prison, to perform an abortion unless the procedure was deemed necessary to save the woman’s life. Making no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, this law is an insult to women who experience such terrible assaults on their physical, mental, and emotional health. The legislation has sweeping consequences that reach far beyond the physical borders of South Dakota; it directly attacks Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, and preys upon the reproductive health and freedoms of all women across the country. Governor Round’s decision to sign the bill signals the latest, and most frightening, in an onslaught of incremental efforts by state legislatures to dismantle Roe, and taking away the fundamental rights of women to make their own choices about their bodies. If this decision indicates where the fight for reproductive rights is headed, I am honestly scared at what this could mean for the future of our country.