South Dakota has become the latest battlefield in the abortion wars. A Nov. 7 referendum will let voters approve or reject a new law aimed at banning virtually all abortions in the state. South Dakota legislators passed the law earlier this year in a direct challenge to the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion during most of a woman's pregnancy. Abortion-rights advocates in South Dakota forced a referendum on the measure, which would allow abortions only if necessary to protect a woman's life. The balloting is the first popular vote on an abortion ban since Oregon voters rejected such a measure in 1990. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Nov. 8 in the Bush administration's defense of the federal law banning what opponents call "partial-birth abortions." The high court struck down a state ban in 2000, but anti-abortion groups hope two new justices may change the outcome this time around.

Kenneth Jost is Supreme Court editor, CQ Press; associate editor, CQ Researcher; and author of The Supreme Court Yearbook since the 1992-1993 edition. 

Kathy Koch, CQ Researcher's assistant managing editor, previously served as a Researcher staff writer covering education and social issues. She also has covered environmental legislation for CQ Weekly, reported for newspapers in South Florida and freelanced in Asia and Africa for several U.S. newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today. She graduated in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kathy Koch, CQ Researcher's assistant managing editor, previously served as a Researcher staff writer covering education and social issues. She also has covered environmental legislation for CQ Weekly, reported for newspapers in South Florida and freelanced in Asia and Africa for several U.S. newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today. She graduated in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.