Four state legislators are pushing a bill to ban abortion here, a move that could potentially thrust North Dakota into the national abortion debate.

The bill's primary sponsor, Rep. James Kerzman, D-Mott, said his proposed ban would make abortion a crime in all cases except to save the mother's life.

It would establish the ban as law in North Dakota, but only if the 1973 Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision ever gets overturned.

In seeking a strict ban that does not allow for exceptions for rape or incest, the measure mimics last year's abortion ban in South Dakota, which passed that state's Legislature but was overturned by voters there last fall. The widely publicized measure brought national attention to South Dakota as interest groups from across the country poured money and resources into the fight.

Kerzman said he's not taking a strict approach in his bill to seek publicity, but because he believes abortion in any circumstance is still the taking of a human life.

"My parents raised me to accept all life, and I have never questioned that," he said.

His co-sponsors on the bipartisan bill are Rep. Ralph Metcalf, D-Valley City, Sen. Randel Christmann, R-Hazen, and Sen. Robert Erbele, R-Lehr. Kerzman said he looked for additional co-sponsors, but wasn't able to find any due to the controversial nature of his bill.

Based on the Legislature's response to past abortion ban proposals, Kerzman may be facing an uphill fight.

In 2005, the House defeated an abortion ban by a vote of 69-19. In 2003, it defeated that exact same bill 79-13. An identical copy of that bill is up again this year as well.

Christopher Dodson, executive director of the anti-abortion North Dakota Catholic Conference, said his organization is more optimistic about the chances of passing an abortion ban this year because Kerzman's bill differs from the measures that were defeated in past years.

The big difference: past bills punished the woman having an abortion, while this year's bill punishes those that pro-vide and aid in abortions.

Dodson said his organization is supporting that version of the ban, while it opposed the past bans because the punishment was aimed at the woman.

"The woman is second victim in the abortion tragedy," Dodson said.

Kerzman, too, is optimistic.

"I think the mood out there is changing a bit," he said.

Seven other states are currently considering an abortion ban.

In North Dakota, 9 percent of pregnancies end in abortion, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit sexual and reproductive health organization. North Dakotans account for one out of 1,000 abortions in the U.S., according to the institute.

Still, the prospect of an abortion ban here has some supporters of abortion rights concerned.

"Anytime a state considers an abortion ban it's the cause of great concern, not just for that one state but for the other 49 as well," said Ted Miller, communications director for NARAL Pro-Choice America in Washington, D.C.

NARAL Pro-Choice America considers abortion to be a woman's personal, private medical decision. It gives North Dakota, along with 18 other states, an F for guaranteeing and protecting women's right to an abortion.

Under current North Dakota law, women are required to wait 24 hours and undergo counseling before receiving an abortion. Minors require the consent of both parents.

Kerzman's bill, HB1466, is scheduled for a hearing at 8 a.m. Monday before the House Judiciary Committee in the Prairie Room.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)