HURON — Rep. Jon Hansen (R-25th District) spoke with the Beadle County Republican Women on Thursday on behalf of the Life Defense Fund, regarding proposed South Dakota Constitutional Amendment G.

Amendment G would potentially enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution.

Hansen explained that when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, it set into place a “trigger” law in South Dakota that put significant restrictions on the ability to seek out and/or perform an abortion.

“Shortly afterward, we started hearing rumblings that there was a group that was going to initiate a constitutional amendment in our state,” Hansen stated. “Sure enough, an organization called Dakotans For Health wrote a constitutional amendment to put legalized abortion into our state constitution.”

That was when Hansen joined with other fellow pro-life friends and activists to start the Life Defense Fund, with the intention to combat the proposed amendment.

Hansen explained that beyond a moral stance against abortion, he’s opposed to the amendment due to the difficulty that future generations will have to change or alter the law.

“With it being a constitutional amendment, the only way to change it is another amendment to the constitution,” Hansen said.

He and his group are also concerned about the language of the proposed amendment. Hansen cited multiple examples of what he stated was “intentionally vague” writing in the amendment that opens abortion up to the birth of the baby, removes parent notification for minors inquiring about an abortion, and limits the ability of the state to regulate the actions of any providers who are providing abortion care, per the interpretation of the proposed amendment by Life Defense Fund.

Life Defense Fund also has brought forth a lawsuit, which alleges that Dakotans For Health violated laws around collecting signatures for amendments.

“We’re in the midst of that right now,” Hansen noted, further stating that “the stakes could not possibly be higher.”

As it stands currently, the amendment is on the November ballot as it has been certified by the Secretary of State to appear on ballots. The results of the court case could mean that the results of the vote are null and void if Life Defense Fund is successful in its suit, but the suit is still pending.

Hansen handed out flyers to attendees regarding the Life Defense Fund’s position on Amendment G for them to distribute to the community and encouraged distribution at churches as well.