Abortion bans: 8 states have passed bills to limit procedure this year, South Dakota reacts

Eight states so far this year passed bills to limit women's abortion rights. These bills that have recently become law are being challenged by many who have protested for their rights.

State legislators are taking steps to make abortion illegal and some women feel their rights have been taken away from them.

Right here in South Dakota in 2006 we saw a similar issue. A bill was passed for a complete abortion ban but the state blocked the measure and voted to keep abortions legal.

Alabama recently became a state that has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country and other states are following suit.

Missouri and Alabama offer no exception for rape and incest cases.

"We applaud Alabama, we applaud the states that recently passed the heartbeat bills. We simply believe with everything in us that abortion is a crime against humanity," South Dakota Right to Life Executive Director, Dale Bartscher said.

South Dakota Right to Life works to protect defenseless, innocent human life. Bartscher said that the future of the world depends on its children and he feels they're winning the pro-life battle, but some still argue it is a woman's choice to decide.

"Us making our own decisions we women making our own decisions for our own bodies," Planned Parenthood Manager of Advocacy and Development, Kristin Hayward said.

"This is an very emotional issue but we think it's pretty clear," Bartscher said.

In South Dakota, if a woman wanted to get an abortion there is a 72-hour waiting period after setting the appointment. Kristin Hayward said this puts a lot of strain on the women when they've already made their final decision.

"It’s for the health of the mother, it's for the health of the child, it's for everything women could die because abortions aren't going to go away legal abortions will go away," Hayward said.

"There have been over 60 million babies murdered in the womb and that hurts our hearts and we say one is way too many," Bartscher said.

In the whole state of South Dakota there is only one clinic providing this procedure and that's in Sioux Falls at Planned Parenthood. Hayward said this is incredibly difficult for women because legislators are removing options.

"With these more conservative legislatures they're starting this up because they're hoping to get it to the Supreme Court and get Roe v. Wade overturned," Hayward said.

In 1973, Roe versus Wade was enacted which made abortions legal.

"And with Brett Kavanaugh in there and Donald Trump at the helm it's really really scary," Hayward said.

Women are upset with the 25 men who helped create this law that are telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies, but Bartscher said this is not a male female issue, this is an issue that bridges that gap and everyone is stronger together.

"Men should be involved in this issue. This is an issue that really is gender neutral," Bartscher said.

None of this is illegal quite yet. Women can still utilize local clinics in the states that have banned abortions.

KSFY News also reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota (ACLU) and they had this to say:

“The decision to have an abortion is deeply personal and private and best left to a woman, her family and her doctor. It’s clear that measures we’ve seen over the years in South Dakota, and recently in states like Ohio and Alabama, are motivated by a desire to coerce and intimidate women who have already made a very private medical decision – one that is protected under the U.S. Constitution – and it’s disappointing that politicians continue to try to insert themselves into the patient-doctor relationship,” Policy Director of the ACLU of South Dakota, Libby Skarin said.