Here's what it looks like when abortion is all but illegal
And by the way, South Dakota is one of several states with a "trigger law," which will make abortion illegal the minute Roe is overturned.
- There is only one abortion clinic in the state. It operates only once a week. Sometimes Monday, sometimes Wednesday, depending on when an abortion doctor flies in to the state.
- An anti-choice task force is successfully lobbying for a law "requiring that a woman watch an ultrasound of her fetus, that doctors warn women about the psychological and physical dangers of abortion, and that women receive psychological counseling before the abortion, among other measures."
- The procedure costs $450. The state refuses to pay any of it, even in cases of rape or incest..By the way, South Dakota is home to the poorest counties in the nation.
- Some women in the state have to travel 700 miles in one day to get the procedure done.
- It's not just abortions. The laws also apply to the RU-486 pill.
- A law, currently blocked by Planned Parenthood, requires the doctor tell the woman prior to the procedure that "abortion ends the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being."
But wait, there's more:
For those who are ambivalent about a woman's right to choose, those who support the right only in cases of rape or incest, imagine being raped in South Dakota. Imagine having no money to pay for the trip hundreds of miles away, imagine not having enough money for the $450 procedure. Imagine telling the doctor you've been brutally raped, and the doctor telling you that the collection of cells inside you is not your rapist's mark, but a "unique living being." Imagine being forced to undergo an ultrasound. Is that exercising your right to choose? Or is it having obstacle after obstacle thrown in your way to make you change course?(HT to georgia10)