In an apparrent attempt to back away from what has become a subject of national controversy, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds, a strong opponent of abortion, said Thursday his decision to sign the bill would be determined by its details; Friday, Rounds said he was “inclined” to sign the bill but reiterated that the bill must be without “technical defects.”

The bill gained final approval in the House this morning.

The Rapid City Journal says Rounds said Thursday that it’s his policy not to publicly discuss his position on specific legislation before it gets to his desk:

Pressed Thursday in a phone interview broadcast on MSNBC television to “give us a clue,” he responded, “I am pro-life, and I do know that my personal belief is that the best way to approach the elimination of abortion is one step at a time. And I do think that this court will ultimately take apart Roe v. Wade one step at a time.”

At a news conference in Lead two weeks ago, Rounds said he would “look favorably” on HB1215 if it addresses the concerns he raised when he vetoed a ban two years ago.

This morning before the bill got final approval from the House, Rounds told AP he was inclined to sign the bill:

Governor Mike Rounds says as long as the measure doesn’t have any technical defects, he’s leaning toward signing it into law.

Under the bill, doctors in South Dakota would face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion unless it was necessary to save the woman’s life.

However, at the press conference in Lead two weeks ago, Rounds said that he had not even read HB1215, which would allow abortions only to save the life of a pregnant woman and would make it a felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison for doctors and others to perform an abortion.

Rounds said Thursday that his lawyers again will be watching for the kinds of technical problems that led him to veto the bill two years ago.

“For us, we want to make sure the bill is in as good a form as possible if it gets that far, and we want to make sure we do not lose the safeguards currently in place for the regulation of abortion in South Dakota,” he said.

An amended version of HB1215, intended as a vehicle to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that upheld a woman’s right to have an abortion, passed the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 22-13.

Rounds now has 15 days to sign the bill following House approval.