Judge dismisses lawsuit against abortion-rights ballot measure

Life Defense Fund attorney Sara Frankenstein readies her case against against Dakotans for Health's abortion rights ballot measure in Sioux Falls on July 15, 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

SIOUX FALLS — A judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit challenging South Dakota’s abortion-rights ballot measure, saying the litigation should have targeted the Secretary of State’s Office rather than only the group that petitioned the measure onto the ballot. 

The losing party vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, leaving South Dakota voters in limbo for now over whether they’ll vote Nov. 5 on restoring abortion rights.

After hearing the plaintiff’s oral arguments during a motions hearing in the Minnehaha County Courthouse, Judge John Pekas ruled that since the Secretary of State’s Office has already certified the measure, the arguments should have been directed against that office.

“They are the ones that should be hearing this,” Pekas said. 

An anti-abortion group, the Life Defense Fund, filed the lawsuit last month in state court against Dakotans for Health, the organization that gathered the petition signatures. The Life Defense Fund alleged that Dakotans for Health failed to comply with state laws regarding petition circulation.

Life Defense Fund attorney Sara Frankenstein contended that the petition process did not adhere to a 2018 law that requires sworn statements proving petition circulators’ South Dakota residency. Those and other problems with the petitions and the circulation process rendered the petition invalid, she argued.

Pekas ruled that since Dakotans for Health is no longer in control of the ballot measure after the Secretary of State’s Office validated it, the relief that the Life Defense Fund sought — removing the measure from the November ballot — should have been sought from the Secretary of State’s Office, not solely from Dakotans for Health. 

Life Defense Fund contends it followed the proper legal steps in challenging the petition signatures, saying Pekas’ decision “blindsided both parties.” The group said it sought additional relief, like barring Dakotans from Health from participating in petition circulation for four years. 

The Secretary of State’s Office validated the petition in May, after using a sample to estimate that 46,098 of the signatures were from registered South Dakota voters, surpassing the required 35,017.

Abortions are currently banned in South Dakota, except to “preserve the life of the pregnant female.” The ballot measure would legalize abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy but allow the state to impose limited regulations in the second trimester and a ban in the third trimester, with exceptions for the life and health of the mother.

Representatives from the Life Defense Fund expressed disappointment as they left the courtroom and later issued a news release vowing to appeal, while advocates for the ballot measure welcomed the ruling.

“Let the people vote, let the people decide,” Dakotans for Health attorney Jim Leach told reporters after the hearing.

Dakotans for Health had previously asked a federal judge to intervene and stop the state case from moving forward. The judge in the federal case had declined to intervene, saying she would wait for key issues to be settled in the state lawsuit. The dismissal of the state case likely renders further action in federal court moot, said Rick Weiland, chairman of Dakotans for Health.

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