Judge agrees to expedite legal challenge to abortion ballot measure

But trial date will start after absentee voting begins

A circuit court judge has agreed to fast-track a trial on whether the Secretary of State’s Office should have disqualified a ballot measure legalizing abortion in South Dakota, but the measure will be on the ballot regardless of the trial’s outcome.

Judge John Pekas set a trial date of Sept. 23 in Life Defense Fund’s lawsuit against Dakotans for Health. That group sponsored a petition drive to bring a constitutional amendment that would overturn South Dakota’s ban on abortion. The ban went into effect on June 24, 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the country.

Pekas also agreed to add the Secretary of State’s Office as a defendant in the case at the request of Life Defense Fund. Dakotans for Health did not object.

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