PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds on Monday signed legislation banning almost all abortions in South Dakota. The Legislature passed the ban late last month, focusing nationwide interest on the state as the governor decided what to do about the measure.
The law, designed to raise a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, is scheduled to take effect July 1.
Under the law, doctors in South Dakota will face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion except when the procedure is necessary to save the mother's life.
Rounds issued a technical veto of a similar measure two years ago because it would have wiped out all existing restrictions on abortion while the bill was tied up for years in a court challenge.
South Dakota Planned Parenthood said it planned a quick court challenge.
