In South Dakota, a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to provide a state constitutional right to abortion will be on the ballot at the general election on Nov. 5, 2024.
On May 17, the secretary of state’s office reported that an estimated 46,098 valid signatures were submitted for the initiative. The campaign supporting the amendment, Dakotans for Health, submitted 55,000 signatures on May 1, 2024. The amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Constitutional Amendment G, needed 35,017 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Voters in 12 states could see abortion measures on the ballot in 2024. Measures are certified in 4 of those 12 states. Along with South Dakota, ballot measures are confirmed in three other states—Colorado, Florida, and Maryland—and measures have been proposed in eight states. A constitutional amendment in New York was removed from the ballot on May 7 following a ruling from a state supreme court justice regarding the legislative procedure of the amendment; however, the New York attorney general said she would appeal the decision.
Constitutional Amendment G would provide a trimester framework for regulating abortion in the South Dakota Constitution:
- During the first trimester of pregnancy, the state would be prohibited from regulating a woman’s decision to have an abortion.
- During the second trimester of pregnancy, the state may regulate abortion, but “only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.”
- During the third trimester of pregnancy, the state may regulate or prohibit abortion, except “when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman’s physician, to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman.”
Rick Weiland, chairman of Dakotans for Health, the campaign supporting Constitutional Amendment G, said that the framework for the amendment was based on the precedents established in the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which was overturned in 2022 following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Weiland said, “We took the language from Roe vs. Wade. It’s based on three trimesters as was Roe. It says pretty much the same thing.”
Weiland said the amendment will allow for abortion access to be restored in the state. He said, “The Freedom Amendment is about empowering individuals to make deeply personal decisions about their own bodies and futures. Every woman deserves the freedom to choose whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy.”
In South Dakota, abortion is banned except to save the life of the mother. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, a 2005 law passed by the South Dakota State Legislature went into effect.
The Life Defense Fund is opposing Constitutional Amendment G. The campaign said, “The proposed South Dakota Abortion Constitutional Amendment would be one of the most extreme abortion laws in the nation. The Abortion Amendment would legalize painful, late-term abortion, all the way to the point of birth.”
Following the 2022 Dobbs decision, seven abortion-related measures appeared on the ballot. In 2022, there were six ballot measures addressing abortion — the most on record for a single year. Measures were approved in California, Michigan, and Vermont. Measures were defeated in Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana. The most recent abortion-related ballot measure to be passed by voters was Ohio Issue 1, which voters approved in Nov. 2023.
Three other campaigns in South Dakota recently submitted signatures for initiatives to qualify for the 2024 ballot. An initiative prohibiting the state sales tax on groceries qualified for the ballot on May 13. Two other initiatives are undergoing signature verification—an initiative establishing top-two primary elections, and an initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in the state.
The other measures certified for the ballot are:
- Constitutional Amendment E: Amend the constitution to change male pronouns in the constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles
- Constitutional Amendment F: Provide that the state may impose work requirements on eligible individuals to receive Medicaid benefits
- Initiated Measure 28: Prohibit state sales taxes on anything sold for human consumption, not including alcoholic beverages or prepared food, which is defined as food that is sold heated or with utensils
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