South Dakota Abortion Ban Sparks Tourism Boycott

A law banning nearly all abortions without exception for cases of rape or incest in South Dakota was signed Monday by Governor Mike Rounds prompting women´s groups to call for a tourism boycott of the state.

Setting up a court fight aimed at challenging the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, the ban drove the Women´s Medical Fund and other abortion-rights activists to advocate a boycott of all tourism in South Dakota.

Anti-abortion activists hope that after the governor´s signing, the ban will lead to a Supreme Court case that overturns Roe v. Wade. The proposed law would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman´s life.

Dr. Leslie Wolfe, president of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington DC, said she believes the boycott is a time-honored strategy that groups employ to express their displeasure with state policy and law. Following in this tradition, it has been used for decades.

“I admire this group for taking this on quickly -- as South Dakota law violates Roe v. Wade. It is unconstitutional and just creates more harm to women, esp. the low-income women in the state,” she said.

Wolfe heads the center founded in 1972 as the first feminist policy research center offering expertise on women´s issues, education, women´s health, economic opportunity for low-income women, work/family policies, violence against women, equality and women of color.

Mississippi is poised to consider a similar piece of legislation. “But so far, I don´t think any other state would consider doing the same thing,” said Wolfe.