The South Dakota anti-abortion bill (HR 1171) that would have altered the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings aimed to prevent harm to an unborn child failed yesterday in the state’s House by an overwhelming vote of 61-4. Earlier this week the bill passed out of the state’s House Judiciary Committee by a vote of nine to three. Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, told Mother Jones, “The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers.”
Following the bill’s passage in committee, the language was amended to read, “the use of force by a pregnant woman for the protection of her unborn child is an affirmative defense to prosecutions for certain crimes.”
In the trial for the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, Judge Wilbert denied Scott Roeder the right to use a “justifiable homicide” defense. The Feminist Majority Foundation conducts the National Clinic Access Project (NCAP) which is the oldest and largest national clinic defense project in the nation. NCAP’s team of experts has been working diligently to stop anti-abortion extremists’ attacks against abortion providers who work to save women’s lives and health.
