South Dakota governor signs key anti-abortion law

CHICAGO, Mar 6 (Reuters) The Governor of South Dakota today signed into law severe restrictions on abortion, in a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of the practice 33 years ago.

Abortion foes have said they hope to use the South Dakota law to eventually bring the issue back before the high court, where they believe conservatives added to the bench by President George W Bush in the last year could weaken or dismantle the court's landmark Roe vs Wade decision of 1973.

Supporters of Roe V Wade have promised a legal challenge to the new South Dakota law.

Republican Gov. Mike Rounds inked the measure, which had been passed by the state legislature on February 24, after a review to make sure there were no technical problems.

Rounds, who has described the legislation as a ''frontal assault'' on Roe v. Wade, had vetoed a similar measure two years ago, saying it would have wiped out existing restrictions on abortion while it was fought in the courts.

The new law bans abortion in virtually all cases, punishing doctors who perform one with a 5,000 dollars fine and five years in prison.

The measure bans abortion even in cases where a woman is pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or if giving birth would damage the health of the mother. It creates a narrow exemption in cases in which a physician's effort to save a pregnant woman's life results in the accidental death or injury of her fetus.

Planned Parenthood operates the sole clinic in South Dakota that provides abortions. About 800 are performed there each year by doctors from neighboring Minnesota. The group has said it will challenge the law in court.

There has been a grass-roots state-by-state campaign in recent years by anti-abortion opponents to find a vehicle by which to challenge the high court's 1973 decision.

They believe an increasingly conservative court will be more disposed to dismantling the earlier decision should something like the South Dakota measure ever reach the justices.

REUTERS VJ RAI0147