An anti-abortion group in South Dakota sues to take an abortion rights initiative off the ballot

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

An anti-abortion group in South Dakota has filed a lawsuit to block an abortion rights measure from the November ballot. The Life Defense Fund filed its lawsuit on Thursday. The group seeks to disqualify or invalidate the initiative. In May, Secretary of State Monae Johnson validated the measure by Dakotans for Health. The group submitted about 54,000 signatures, and it needed about 35,000 to qualify its measure for the ballot. Life Defense Fund alleges wrongdoing by petition circulators, as well as invalid signatures and fraud. Dakotans for Health called the lawsuit “a last-ditch effort to undermine the democratic process.”