An abortion-related bill introduced Tuesday in the state Legislature took advocates on both sides of the issue by surprise.

"I'm totally blindsided by it. We don't know anything of it," Don Rausch, president of Rapid City Right to Life, said about SB92.

The proposed legislation would require that a doctor performing an abortion in the state be available for a two-hour period on the day before the scheduled abortion for consultation with the patient in the same city where the abortion will be performed. Under the bill, failure to do so would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.

The bill is sponsored by 10 legislators, including area Republicans, Rapid City Sen. Gordon Howie and Reps. Thomas Brunner, Nisland, Lance Russell, Hot Springs, and Mike Verchio of Hill City.

South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, which opposed abortion ban proposals that state voters rejected in 2006 and 2008, said Wednesday that it opposed this bill as a "purely punitive measure" put forth by abortion ban supporters. The measure will only reignite a dispute that most South Dakotans don't want to revisit this year, spokesman Nathan Peterson said.

"The better way to approach the problem of unintended pregnancies and to reduce the need for abortion is through prevention programs and education, and this bill would do neither," Peterson said.

"Election results from the past two election cycles, and our post-election surveys, indicate pretty clearly that people are looking for new, constructive approaches … not more quibbling over punitive measures."

Leslee Unruh of VoteYesForLife.com commended Howie for "his heroic efforts to protect women." Unruh said the bill represents sound medical practice by ensuring women the right to a relationship with the physician performing the abortion.

"Currently in the South Dakota abortion facility, the first time a woman meets the physician is when she is waiting for the procedure to begin," Unruh said. "This is not proper doctor/patient protocol and is not in the best interest for the health of the woman."

Suzan Nolan, a former legislative candidate from Rapid City and a member of Democracy in Action, a women's advocacy group, said she was surprised by the bill and hadn't had time to study it.

"It is one more issue of government meddling in the private lives of women and their bodies and reproductive decisions," Nolan said.

Rausch said there was no indication of the bill when Rapid City Right to Life's board of directors met Jan. 22 in Pierre. "I figured, hey, this is simply going to be a Legislature that's going to work on balancing the budget," he said.

The bill's chances in an abortion-weary state Legislature are hard to predict, Rausch said. "It's an unknown this year. I don't know if any of these guys have done their homework and counted committee votes on this."

SB92 was referred to the Senate's Health and Human Services Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Stan Adelstein, R-Rapid City, who favors abortion rights.