Monday, March 13, 2006

A few questions about South Dakota

I've been mulling over the spiffy new abortion law passed in South Dakota, and I have some questions that maybe someone can clear up:

1. I know that the law makes it a felony for doctors to perform abortions, but do the women seeking them face any criminal charges?

2. If the women do face criminal charges, are those charges felonies?

3. Is South Dakota a "three strikes" state with regard to felony convictions? In other words, does a third felony conviction carry with it an automatic sentence of life?)

4. If South Dakota is a "three strikes" state, and if women seeking abortions are guilty of felonies, do those women therefore face life imprisonment?

5. What penalty do doctors face for performing abortions, anyhow?

6. Is it possible that some doctors may seek to "mask" abortions as miscarriages?

7. If it is possible, or even conceivable, that some doctors may seek to "mask" abortions as miscarriages, is South Dakota prepared to generically investigate instances of miscarriage to determine if an abortion was possibly committed?

These are just random thoughts that I've been kicking around. Apropos of nothing, of course.

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