South Dakota's Governor leans towards endorsing ban on abortion

South Dakota's Governor leans towards endorsing ban on abortion
PIERRE, S.D. - Lawmakers in South Dakota gave their consent to ban nearly all abortions yesterday as the battle over the famous Roe v Wade case appears set to start all over again. The situation was further highlighted when Republican Governor Mike Rounds announced that he was leaning towards endorsing the bill.

Governor Rounds has a fortnight to mull over the implications of the bill before either signing it or vetoing it. Ominously, for pro-abortionists, Rounds has indicated that he did not need the 15 days to give his consent, "If the bill is correctly written than I will seriously consider signing the bill," he said.

"It is a direct frontal assault on Roe v. Wade." He did say that his personal view was to take the whole issue in an orderly manner, "Personally, I have always preferred that we take it one step at a time … and allow the court different approaches," he said.

"This bill takes it directly to the heart of Roe v. Wade." But the issue is unlikely to die a natural death since seven other states including Indiana, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee are considering imposing similar bills. This has expectedly ruffled the feathers of abortion rights campaigners.

The Center for Reproductive Rights feels that the exit of Sandra Day O'Connor and the entry of John Roberts and Samuel Alito in the Supreme Court has strengthened the hands of anti-abortionists and pro-lifers, "The shift in the court has emboldened the anti-choice forces to try to put forth unconstitutional bills to test to see if Roe v. Wade can be overturned," said Nancy Northup of the Centre.

Abortion is a politically and an emotionally sensitive issue in America. The Bush administration has veered back and forth on this issue and so have the Democrats. But with State legislatures moving towards making it a core issue, abortion is really back in the limelight now, except that it had never gone away!