SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (WordNews.org) July 24, 2012 — A federal appeals court upheld a South Dakota law that requires doctors to tell women seeking abortions about the increased risk of suicide they will face, Reuters is reporting.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 7-4 ruling Tuesday, overturning a decision by a three-judge appellate panel in September that ruled the seven-year-old law was unconstitutional.

Pro-life groups praised the ruling.

“Today will be a marker throughout history. It is a victory not only for the 52 million who have lost their lives to the atrocity of abortion, but to the women who have also been victimized by the profit-hungry abortion industry since 1973,” said Leslee J. Unruh, founder and president of Alpha Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “The 8th District Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the women will now be given additional important information before they consent to an abortion: that the abortion procedure places a woman at increased risk of suicide and suicide ideation.”

Unruh said when the bill, HB1166, was being debated in Pierre during the 2005 legislative session, one woman stood on the Capitol steps in the freezing cold as snow fell all around her.

“The weather was chilling, but what she held was even more chilling,” she said. “In her hands, she held a sign that read, ‘I am holding this sign, because I cannot hold my two children. Vote yes on HB 1166.’ As the snow hit the sign, the marker bled and started running: the ink on the sign closely resembling the tears on her face.”