Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- South Dakota and Colorado advocacy groups said they'll continue seeking anti-abortion laws after they were defeated in balloting this week, encountering concerted opposition from pro-choice organizations.

``We were outspent three to one,'' said Leslee Unruh, executive director of Vote Yes for Life, whose proposal to ban most abortions in South Dakota was voted down on Nov. 4. ``We were surprised they put so much outside resources in here and that voters didn't wake up to see it.''

It was the second time since 2006 that South Dakota voters rejected restrictions on abortion. The measure failed this time with 206,485 opposed, or 55 percent of votes cast, compared with 167,534 in favor, according to the secretary of state's office. Unruh, 54, said her organization would regroup for another try.

``Last time, I went back to my other job,'' she said in a telephone interview from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. ``This time, I'm here to stay.'' Unruh is founder and president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, an advocate for sexual restraint.

Colorado voters turned down Amendment 48, which would have extended human rights to unborn fetuses. Bob Enyart, a director of Colorado Right to Life, which sponsored the amendment, said he saw progress even in the law's three-to-one defeat behind help from national opposition.

``Planned Parenthood was the primary backer of No on 48,'' said Enyart, a talk show host on Christian radio station KLTT in Denver. ``We still got about 550,000 votes, a firm baseline to continue the fight. We're coming back in 2010.''

Vote Count

The vote count including most precincts was 1,577,968 million opposed, representing 73 percent of votes cast, and 580,382 in favor, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

California also defeated a proposal to require doctors to notify parents when a girl younger than 18 seeks an abortion.

Planned Parenthood's local affiliates raised the money to oppose the Colorado and South Dakota measures, said Diane Quest, a spokeswoman for the national organization in Washington.

``Each was a coalition of groups and each had its own budget, completely separate from Planned Parenthood,'' she said.

The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, a coalition that included Planned Parenthoods of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, spent roughly $2.4 million, she said.

``In Colorado, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains was part of the Protect Families/Protect Choices Campaign, which spent roughly $1.8 million,'' Quest said.

Staff Dispatched

Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation in Washington, said her organization sent staff to South Dakota to campaign against Vote Yes for Life.

Celine Mizrahi, legislative counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based legal advocate for abortion access, said her organization didn't send people or money to the states.

Mizrahi said the state measures could have led to challenges to the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which upheld a woman's right to an abortion.

``Both of those measures were really designed to get up to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe,'' she said.

That possibility was set back by the twin defeats, said Caitlin E. Borgmann, an associate professor at the City University of New York School of Law.

``Advocates looking to mount a direct challenge to Roe were dealt a one-two punch,'' Borgmann said in an interview. ``One, the measures didn't pass. Two, Obama said he won't appoint justices that favor overturning the law, so the anti- abortionists don't have much near-term prospect.''

Retiring Justices

President-elect Barack Obama will probably have to replace at least two retiring Supreme Court justices in his first four- year term, Borgmann said. John Paul Stevens is 88 years old and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. David Souter may also retire. He is 69.

Borgmann described the court, which has kept Roe v. Wade intact for 35 years, as having a ``fragile majority favoring the right to abortion but that would allow many restrictions.''

``Four justices think Roe is bad and four think restrictions are getting out of hand, and there's Kennedy in the middle,'' she said, referring to Justice Anthony Kennedy. ``So far, he has voted to uphold the basic right to abortion.''

Unruh in South Dakota and Enyart in Colorado said Roe v. Wade wasn't the primary motivation for their state campaigns. They said national attention to that issue distracted voters.

``It's not true that our measure was designed to overturn Roe,'' said Unruh. ``By making that the focus, it meant that we were not talking about the law but about larger issues that were not the same thing.''

Enyart said his effort extended beyond the Supreme Court.

``Part of our goal was to overturn Roe v. Wade, but it's not reasonable to expect an institution to correct its own error,'' he said. ``Our goal is to increase the social tension over abortion.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jerry Hart in Miami at jhart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 7, 2008 15:43 EST