William M. "Bill" Napoli is a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 state Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 in the South Dakota State Legislature, representing the 35th State Senate district.

On March 20, 2008, Napoli announced he will not seek reelection and instead will retire from politics.
In the Rapid City Journal Senator Napoli has stated that he will run for governor "if his supporters ask him to."
Napoli entered the spotlight by virtue of several public statements he made regarding the legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

 H.B. 1215

Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act

The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act was a state law passed by the South Dakota State Legislature in early 2006. It emerged as an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade via enacting a ban on abortion in the state of South Dakota...

, enacted in 2006, to limit abortion

Abortion

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

 access in South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

 to those cases in which the woman's life would be in danger, possibly anticipating or inviting a repudiation of Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...

by the Roberts Court

Roberts Court

In the United States, the Roberts Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States since 2005, under the leadership of Chief Justice John G. Roberts...

.

Among his statements were:

"When I was growing up here in the wild west, if a young man got a girl pregnant out of wedlock, they got married, and the whole darned neighborhood was involved in that wedding.