UPDATE SD Rejects Tough Abortion Ban, Others Reject Gay Marriage

from MyWay News

South Dakotans rejected a toughest-in-the-nation law that would have banned virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest - defeating one of the most high-profile state measures facing voters.

The outcome was a blow to conservatives, although they prevailed in five other states where voters approved constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. Among them was Wisconsin, where gay-rights activists had nursed hopes of engineering the first defeat of such a ban. Eight states had ban-gay-marriage amendments on their ballots; Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia joined Wisconsin in approving them, while results were pending in Arizona, Colorado and South Dakota. Similar amendments have passed previously in all 20 states to consider them.