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Noem signs bills including abortion video mandate, petition signature withdrawal process • South Dakota Searchlight [1]

['Searchlight Staff', 'More From Author', '- March']

Date: 2024-03-19  

Gov. Kristi Noem signed dozens of bills into law during the past several days, including two related to abortion.

One bill requires the production of a video and other materials explaining the state’s abortion ban. Another one allows people to withdraw their signatures from ballot-question petitions, such as one currently circulating that would reinstate abortion rights.

South Dakota’s abortion ban was written in 2005 and triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022. The ban includes one exception for abortions necessary to preserve the life of the mother.

More legislative coverage Visit the 2024 South Dakota Legislature page.

The meaning of the exception is a topic of debate. During the recently concluded state legislative session, for example, an OB-GYN testified that an induced labor resulting in complications and the death of a baby could be deemed an abortion under the state’s current law.

An attempt to amend the language of the law failed last year. This year’s bill says the state Department of Health must produce a video and materials describing:

The state’s abortion law and acts that do and do not constitute an abortion.

The most common medical conditions that threaten the life or health of a pregnant woman.

The generally accepted standards of care applicable to the treatment of a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions.

The criteria that a practitioner, exercising reasonable medical judgment, might use in determining the best course of treatment for a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions and for her unborn child.

The bill also requires the department to consult on the video and materials with the state attorney general and “stakeholders having medical and legal expertise.”

The other abortion-related bill, which would allow people to withdraw their signatures from ballot-question petitions, was supported by anti-abortion legislators. They want to block a potential citizen-initiated ballot measure to restore abortion rights.

Backers of that initiative have said they have enough signatures from registered voters to place the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, but they have not yet turned in the signatures.

The 2024 legislative session concluded earlier this month, except for one day next Monday to consider vetoes. Noem has not issued any vetoes yet.

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[1] Url: https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/03/19/noem-signs-abortion-video-mandate-petition-signature-withdrawal-process/

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