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''The final report was authored by a few people on the task force, and it is less than complete... Task force chair disappointe
''The final report was authored by a few people on the task force, and it is less than completely objective and factual. It is biased and opinionated,'' said Dr. Marty Allison of Pierre.
Allison said she agrees with the report's call for a ban on abortion, with further restrictions on abortion in South Dakota until a ban can be accomplished. But the report does not reflect all the information that the task force gathered from experts and the public on both sides of the issue, and it does not deal with preventing unintended pregnancies and other important issues, she said.
''Even though I'm pro-life and it's a pro-life report, I couldn't support the entire document because of those reasons,'' Allison told The Associated Press.
''The process through which we came to the final report, through our meetings we had, I was disappointed with that. It's not reflective of all the information we spent so much time gathering,'' the physician said.
Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, another member of the task force, said the report accurately reflects the testimony and written evidence the panel received during its meetings in recent months.
''As I took in the testimony and made many, many notes, it was evident to me the act of abortion has significantly hurt women and families,'' said Greenfield, who is also director of South Dakota Right to Life.
''For people to suggest there was no objectivity, that it was a preconceived or predetermined outcome, is a little disingenuous to the process,'' Greenfield said.
After a contentious meeting Friday, the task force approved a final report that says the 1973 U.S. Supreme court ruling that legalized abortion should be overturned because scientific advances have since demonstrated that life begins at conception. The report says that until abortion is banned, South Dakota should seek to reduce the number of abortions performed by imposing further restrictions, such as requiring that women get more information and counseling before having abortions.
Several of the task force members, including those who support abortion rights, walked out of Friday's meeting before the final vote. They said the majority rejected proposals that could reduce abortions by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies in South Dakota.
The task force members failed to collaborate and discuss some important issues, such as improving schools' sex education programs, including education on abstinence, Allison said. The report also should have addressed ideas for reducing unintended pregnancies and whether some exceptions should be included in a ban on abortion, she said.
Allison said she believes the task force should have approved a proposal requiring the report to include only rigorous scientific research that is accepted by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Gynecology and other professional organizations.
The task force rejected two resolutions suggested by Allison. One supported a ban on abortion except in cases involving rape, incest, a serious risk to the health or life of a woman, or fetuses that could not survive. The second called for improving public schools' sex education programs with a focus on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, with an emphasis on abstinence.
The 72-page report adopted by the task force was not distributed until the day before the meeting. Greenfield said portions were written by five task force members: Dr. David Wachs, Dr. John Stransky, Rep. Elizabeth Kraus, chiropractor Allen Unruh, and Travis Benson of the Sioux Falls Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.
Greenfield said experts on both sides agreed that life begins at fertilization, although some hedged and said they did not know when meaningful life begins.
''For me, I don't want to get into the discussion on the subjective terms. The fact is, based on science, life begins at fertilization,'' Greenfield said.
Greenfield said he could not accept Allison's proposal on sex education because its language could have opened the door to subjects parents do not want schools to teach.
''It was apparent to me that in calling for this so-called comprehensive sexuality education, I think in essence our task force would have been going far beyond what most South Dakotans would approve of for their children,'' he said.
Greenfield said he found the testimony of women who have had abortions to be compelling when they talked of the physical, emotional and spiritual harm they suffered.
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