PIERRE, S.D. – A state Senate panel supports repealing a South Dakota law that allows someone whose spouse has been “seduced or stolen” to file a lawsuit against the seducer.

The South Dakota Senate’s Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 today to send the bill to the full Senate for further debate. The measure would get rid of a law that allows lawsuits on the grounds of “alienation of affection.”

Sen. Stan Adelstein of Rapid City says allowing such lawsuits doesn’t protect marriages and assumes that a spouse is property.

But the bill’s opponents say allowing alienation-of-affection lawsuits helps protect marriages, and sends a message that somebody who messes with another person’s marriage can face consequences.