Here we go again.

South Dakota seems poised to place another abortion ban vote on the ballot in November.

In 2006, Referred Law 6, which would have prohibited all abortions in South Dakota except those performed to save the life of the woman, was defeated by voters. South Dakotans rejected that attempt to ban abortion 56 percent to 44 percent, and post-election polls showed that many people said they voted against it because it did not contain exceptions for rape, incest and health of the woman.

That suggests to anti-abortion forces that voters here might support a ban that does include those exceptions, and it seems that, come Nov. 4, they'll get the opportunity to test that theory.

Petitions are being circulated in churches and elsewhere to gather the 18,000 signatures required to put the intitiated measure on the ballot and the Vote Yes For Life campaign is hard at work once again.

Increasingly, this battle over abortion rights will be waged incrementally at the state level, not the national one.

South Dakota, a state that loves its right to referendum and is largely regarded as a pro-life state, seems a logical place for abortion foes to test the shifting sands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The financial costs of bringing another initiated measure on abortion to the ballot box is a small price to pay to let South Dakotans decide, for themselves, where they draw the line on abortion rights.

If it passes at the polls, the cost to state taxpayers of defending the constitutionality of the new law all the way to the Supreme Court does give us pause.

The practicality of challenging Roe v. Wade at this time is just one of many factors voters will need to ponder before casting their vote.

But we encourage the petitions to be signed, the debate to continue and another statewide vote on the issue of exceptions in the case of rape or incest and for the health and life of the woman.

We think this is a subject on which South Dakotans will be anxious to have their say.

If voters of this state will approve an abortion ban that contains exceptions, as many pro-life supporters stated after the last election, then let's find out once and for all in November.

And if not, then let's move on from this issue.