South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed the state’s “Med Ed” bill into law on Monday, which is aimed at ending “abortion misinformation” by educating doctors and women on the state’s law regarding abortion during pregnancies in which the mother’s health is said to be in danger.
Most preborn children are protected from abortion in South Dakota. The only exception allows abortion to protect the life of the mother (though induced abortion, which intentionally kills a preborn child, is not medically necessary). The Med Ed bill doesn’t change the law but aims to ensure the law is properly understood by women and medical professionals.
Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), said in the statement that “though every state with a pro-life law allows pregnant women to receive emergency care, the abortion industry has sown confusion on this fact to justify their position of abortion without limits.”
The new law requires that the Department of Health create video and informational materials for doctors and the public to use to understand the pro-life laws. It has until September 1, 2024, to do so and publish the video on its website.
“Regardless of political affiliation or whether someone is pro-life or pro-choice, South Dakotans of all philosophies can celebrate that moms will be better protected through direct education to our doctors on their ability to exercise reasonable medical judgment in all situations,” said Pritchard.
The pro-abortion ACLU of South Dakota, however, said the bill “gives anti-abortion activists a guise to appear to care about pregnant patients…”
READ: South Dakota measure looks to restore Roe, but abortion groups say it isn’t enough
The truth is that induced abortion (the direct and intentional killing of a preborn child) is not medically necessary. This is simply because even in emergencies when the pregnancy must end, the child doesn’t have to be purposefully killed prior to delivery. Emergency deliveries such as through C-sections allow doctors to end the pregnancy while attempting to save both the mother and child. Any woman facing a medical emergency during pregnancy deserves to know that she doesn’t have to choose her life over her child’s. Pre-term deliveries to protect the mother’s life are not considered abortions even if the child is unable to survive because the intent of the procedure was not to produce a dead baby.
According to SBA, both Kentucky and Oklahoma are also taking steps to clarify the exceptions in their pro-life laws, and the Texas Medical Board may also clarify the state’s pro-life exception as well. Meanwhile, pro-abortion doctors continue to use tragic cases of medical negligence to promote abortion late into pregnancy.
