South Dakota’s Abortion Rate Falls to Lowest Level since 1973

The number of abortions in South Dakota in 2007 fell to the lowest number recorded since the procedure was legalized in 1973, according to information released from the state’s Department of Health.

Information on the abortion drop comes on the heels of the November vote which rejected an abortion ban in the state, the second rejection of a South Dakota abortion ban in the last two years.

A total of 707 abortions were performed in the state in 2007, a decrease from 748 the previous year.

Although the abortion bans did not pass this year or in 2006, some laws which did pass may have had a hand in decreasing the state’s number.

Leslee Unruh, who founded the Alpha Center pregnancy counseling center in Sioux Falls says that a new law, which took effect in July, requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure ends a human life played a part in reducing the abortion rate.

She also believes abstinence only education decreased the number of unwanted pregnancies, thereby reducing abortions.

“Our stats show that if you keep offering birth control, you keep having irresponsible sex,” she said “The sex seekers want to say the dip has to do with more condoms and birth control pills but that doesn’t work.”

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