House committee approves of video explaining SD's abortion laws

PIERRE — An effort to provide clarity to South Dakota’s abortion trigger law through an informational video produced by the Department of Health passed through a House committee Monday morning.

HB 1224 would have the DOH, medical partners and the Attorney General’s Office partner to create a video by September explaining the state’s abortion law, the medical conditions that can threaten a pregnant woman’s life, standards of care for treating the pregnant woman if her life is in danger and the best course of treatment.

Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, who sponsored the bill, said it is about providing clarity, not changing the state’s abortion trigger law that went into effect in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

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“Since (2022), we've had multiple providers that have been concerned about how they can properly care for women in our state pertaining to saving the life of the mother for an abortion,” she said.

In 2023, Rehfeldt had pulled a bill that would’ve better defined what the threat to a pregnant mother’s life could look like.

DOH Secretary Melissa Magstadt said Monday it was worth the time to produce the video so medical providers across the state could have clarity on the abortion trigger law.

Members of the anti-abortion community commended Rehfeldt’s bill, saying that it would create more opportunity for education and the video would also be available to the public.

Adam Schwend, the western regional director of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Rehfeldt’s bill was the first of its kind in the United States. Other states, including Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky, have issued administrative guidance. Rep. Rebecca Reimer, R-Chamberlain, applauded the effort.

“I think it's a great effort for us to be leading the nation in a new approach to protecting women and babies,” Reimer said.

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The lone opposition in the 11-1 vote to pass the bill onto the House floor came from Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls. She expressed her concern about the attorney general’s office being involved in the video’s production.

“Our attorney general is not a practicing physician, and I worry that they might not be able to understand the intricacies of this issue,” she said.

Rehfeldt said the attorney general knew specifically about the law and how it’s applied. She added that the attorney general’s office didn’t have to sign off on the final version of the video.

“This bill is solely about taking care of moms and taking care of babies, and also making sure that providers have that clarification that they've asked for, so that they know how to take care of them the best,” she said.

South Dakotans will also have a possible chance to vote on a proposed ballot question that would enshrine a woman's right to an abortion in the state's constitution. However, Republican members of the Legislature introduced a resolution against the proposal that passed out of a House committee last week after fiery testimony from both sides.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Abortion laws in South Dakota to be explained in possible video format