US | abortion South Dakota Enacts 3-Day Waiting Period for Abortions Women also have to go to anti-abortion counseling centers By Nick McMaster Posted Mar 22, 2011 3:28 PM CDT Copied South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard delivers his inaugural address Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 at the State Capitol in Pierre, S.D. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer) Women who want to get an abortion in South Dakota must now wait a full three days after meeting with a doctor under a measure signed into law today by Gov. Dennis Daugaard, the AP reports. It's the longest such waiting period in the nation. The law also requires that women undergo counseling at anti-abortion help centers, which is another first, notes the Christian Science Monitor. "I hope that women who are considering an abortion will use this three-day period to make good choices," says Daugaard. Abortion rights advocates are already planning a lawsuit. “The 72-hour waiting period coupled with having to go to a crisis pregnancy center whose very mission is to dissuade women from going through with an abortion has grave constitutional concerns for us,” says a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood. Supporters of the law charge that Planned Parenthood—the sole provider of abortions in South Dakota—offers too little information or counseling. Read These Next The 8 Democrats who bucked party on shutdown have something in common. Here's where things stand in the House ahead of shutdown vote. Hormone therapy for menopause was unfairly demonized, says the FDA. Senate votes to end shutdown in deal Sanders calls 'horrific.' Report an error