SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – South Dakota’s abortion lawsuit has been dismissed after the ballot measure failed on election night.
Life Defense Fund sued the initiative’s sponsor, Dakotans for Health, on the grounds of invalid petition signatures, failing to give out circulator handouts and misleading petition signers.
On November 5, voters rejected Amendment G, the abortion ballot measure. The final vote was 59% (250,136 votes) of the state voting no on the amendment, with only 41% (176, 809) who voted yes.
“The people have decided, and South Dakotans overwhelmingly rejected this constitutional abortion measure,” said Life Defense Fund’s co-chair Leslee Unruh in a statement to KELOLAND News. “We have won in the court of public opinion, and South Dakotans clearly saw the abortion lobby’s deception.”
KELOLAND News published a story back in June when the lawsuit first dropped, outlining the lawsuit and all of Life Defense Fund’s claims.
According to court documents, Dakotans for Health tried to get the case dismissed after Election Day based on the argument that the judgment is now moot. Minnehaha Judge John Pekas denied the argument. However, Life Defense Fund’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss their complaint and both parties agreed.
If the ballot measure had passed, the lawsuit would have proceeded with a motions hearing in December and a trial in February.
Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland said he expected this outcome, but still called out what he views as flaws in the democratic process for the struggles the lawsuit brought.
“We’ve seen time and time again that these efforts are designed to make it harder for citizens to qualify measures for the ballot, and even easier for the legislature to overturn the will of the people once they do. These moves would render the entire direct democracy process meaningless,” Weiland said in his statement.
