VIEWPOINT | Protecting life requires prudence, not punishment

Guest column by Fred Deutsch, former South Dakota lawmaker

There’s still plenty of noise around House Bill 1212 — the proposal to criminalize women for abortion. Setting aside the rhetoric, it’s worth looking plainly at what the bill would have done and why its defeat protected both South Dakota law and the long-term strength of the pro-life cause.

The lawmakers who supported HB 1212 are sincere. They want to end abortion. So do I. But good intentions don’t automatically produce good law, and HB 1212 would have replaced a policy that works with one that likely would not.