Planned Parenthood challenges South Dakota abortion law [View All]

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156931&newsid=14647888&PAG=461&rfi=9

A federal judge has been asked to strike down a new South Dakota abortion law that Planned Parenthood contends would force doctors to give false information to women seeking abortions. A lawsuit challenging the law, which is slated to take effect July 1, was filed Monday in federal court in Sioux Falls, Kate Looby, director of Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, said late Monday morning.

The law should be blocked because it would force doctors to read to women seeking abortions state-scripted information that is medically inaccurate and is infused with ideology, Looby said. ''Politicians can't force doctors to tell patients things that aren't true. That's bad medicine,'' Looby said Monday. ''Just because politicians believe something is true doesn't make it so.''

Mark Johnston, press secretary to Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, said the governor's office does not routinely comment on pending litigation. South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long was traveling Monday and unavailable to comment. Assistant Attorney General John Guhin said the office, which has the responsibility of defending laws passed by the Legislature, cannot comment until it receives the lawsuit and can study it.

The informed-consent measure was one of four abortion laws passed by the 2005 South Dakota Legislature. State law already requires women to give their voluntary and informed consent before getting abortions. The new law would require doctors to give women more information before they sign consent forms. The measure requires doctors to inform a woman in writing at least two hours before an abortion is performed that the procedure ends the life of a human and terminates the constitutional relationship a woman has with her unborn child. It also requires doctors to tell women about the medical risks of abortion, including a statement that it could cause an increased risk of suicide. Legislators said the measure will ensure that women seeking abortions fully understand what they are doing.