Two Catholic bishops hailed South Dakota's new law banning nearly all abortions, but they also urged efforts to transform people's hearts and minds to reject abortion and build a culture that respects all life from the moment of conception to natural death.

On March 6 in Pierre, the state capital, Gov. Mike Rounds signed into law a bill prohibiting all intentional abortions except those to save a mother's life.

Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City said South Dakota citizens and their elected officials "can be justifiably proud of their efforts to restore the rights of the unborn child." But "a change in law and structures," he said, "is not sufficient."

Society must build a culture of life that "begins with the unborn" and also ensures livable wages, education, adequate health care, help for single mothers and "an end to the death penalty," he said.

In a separate statement, Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, N.D., apostolic administrator of the Sioux Falls Diocese, said: "There is no question about the church's position on abortion --- human life is sacred because it involves the creative action of God.... None of us can claim the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."

He hailed the new law but said the church is "dedicated to promoting a culture that respects human life."

"Regardless of court rulings and laws, we must be ardent in our efforts to transform the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. All people must recognize human life is a gift," said Bishop Aquila, a graduate of Crespi High School in Encino.

South Dakota's new law is the most sweeping ban on abortion adopted in any state since 1973, the year the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion virtually on demand in its Roe v. Wade decision.

The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act specifically exempts women from any criminal conviction or penalty for obtaining an abortion. But it says that anyone who performs an abortion except to save a mother's life commits a Class 5 felony, which is punishable by a fine up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison.

The law does not apply to medical treatment "that results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the unborn child."

The South Dakota House of Representative passed the bill Feb. 24 by a vote of 50-18. The Senate had approved it Feb. 22, by a vote of 23-12, after slightly amending an earlier version adopted by the House. The House vote Feb. 24 incorporated the Senate's amendment.

The amendment, an addition to the introductory legislative findings of the bill, said the Legislature finds that "the guarantee of due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings" and that the mother and her unborn child "each possess a natural and inalienable right to life."

The law strikes previous South Dakota abortion restrictions that are no longer relevant in light of the broader ban, but it also provides that, if implementation of the new statute is enjoined, suspended or delayed by a court order, or if the new law is found unconstitutional, the laws it replaces will automatically be reinstated.

In his statement, Bishop Aquila said, "All people must recognize human life is a gift. Abortion destroys that gift, the life of a unique, unrepeatable human being. It harms women as well, and protecting both mothers and children is a fundamental duty of the state. Let us all pray that God's will be done and let us continue to work for the building up of a culture of life that begins with the respect for human life from the moment of conception."

Bishop Cupich said that everyone "genuinely interested" in the cause of life "must look for new opportunities to speak to the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens about the dignity of human life in all of its stages, lest the laws we pass rest on a weak foundation."

Catholics must join with others to support "a livable wage for workers, assistance for single mothers, adequate health care for families, the education of our youth and an end to the death penalty," the bishop said.

"Building a culture of life in our society is the task before us. It begins with the unborn, but does not end there," he said.

Planned Parenthood, which runs the only abortion facility in South Dakota, has said it will challenge the new law.

---CNS