A South Dakota bill to ban abortion via telemedicine was just signed into law by Republican Governor Kristi Noem after passing in the state legislature.
The legislation, HB 1318, will “prohibit medical abortion by telemedicine and … increase the penalty for the unlicensed practice of medicine when performing a medical abortion.” The legislation will require mifepristone and misoprostol to be dispensed from licensed physicians and prohibit obtaining the drugs online or by mail for the purposes of a chemical abortion.
“My legislation to ban telemedicine abortions passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk! With this bill, we will protect both unborn babies and their mothers from this dangerous procedure,” Noem tweeted before signing the bill.
My legislation to ban telemedicine abortions passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk!
With this bill, we will protect both unborn babies and their mothers from this dangerous procedure.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 2, 2022
The bill passed 32-2 in the South Dakota Senate, with every Republican senator voting in support of it.
Governor Noem’s office announced her introduction of the legislation, along with a bill seeking to ban abortions once an unborn child’s heartbeat can be detected, on March for Life Day in January.
In the announcement, the governor’s office stated: “Governor Noem previewed her heartbeat legislation last year when she directed her Unborn Child Advocate to review South Dakota laws and ensure that we have the strongest pro-life laws on the books in South Dakota.”
The announcement also mentioned that over the past 10 years, “abortions have declined by approximately 80% in South Dakota.”
In 2021, Noem banned telemedicine abortions via an executive order, while also signing eight pieces of pro-life legislation into law.
Because of the governor’s moves against abortion telemedicine last year, a lawsuit was filed against the state by Planned Parenthood.
“After the governor attempted to implement a similar rule last year, Planned Parenthood, which operates the state’s only clinic that regularly provides abortion services, sued the state. It argued the restriction was an unconstitutional violation of abortion rights and would have made it practically impossible for the clinic to provide any medicine-induced abortions,” ABC News reported.
“A federal judge last month granted a preliminary injunction against the rule, but the state has appealed that ruling,” the report added.
