South Dakota voters defeated the state ban on all abortions on Tuesday by a 12 percent margin (Rapid City Journal). This defeat means greater freedom of choice for South Dakota women, and it means that the ban will not go further in the judicial process. What it also means, though, is that South Dakota's legislature has not been pursuing the will of its constituents.

Before we go too far, we should note that the defeat of the ban is only partially a victory for pro-choicers. I think it's more likely that the severity of the law, with its failure to except rape or incest cases, is what inspired voters to topple the measure, rather than the crumminess of the law. (I pointed out the flaws in the proposed language in an earlier article.) But voters' rejection of the abortion ban reveals something else far more sinister to the democratic process: By excluding exceptions, South Dakota's lawmakers were not representing their citizens.

The ban was passed overwhelmingly in February before the state legislature, and only through a petition launched by Planned Parenthood was it put on the ballot. If 56% of the state's voters are not in favor of an initiative made into law by 67% of the state legislators, something does not fit. Not only did the lawmakers pass the motion, they also agreed to reject an amendment that would put the ban on the ballot come November. That's right: 57% of the South Dakota state senate did not want the voters of South Dakota to make their own decision about this issue. (You can see the full record of how the South Dakota legislature voted here.) Who do they think elected them? God?

Actually, don't answer that.