House Bill 1257

Background: House Bill 1257 would amend the definition of an abortion.

Update: On February 23, the House State Affairs Committee amended the bill to define an abortion to clarify medical exceptions in our state's extreme abortion ban.

Previously: House Bill 1257 initially regulated the performance and reporting of abortions necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant female and to provide a penalty therefor.

Our Stance: The ACLU of South Dakota opposes House Bill 1257.

The call to clarify the exceptions to South Dakota’s extreme abortion ban just proves that one-size-fits-all laws don’t work. In order for our laws to address all the possible circumstances that someone who is pregnant might face, we need to repeal the total abortion ban and make access to medical care the rule, not the exception.

Exceptions don’t work in practice, because they can’t account for the complex circumstances that can arise during a pregnancy. Even when abortion bans have so-called “exceptions,” they end up harming people who need care.

There is a difference between personal beliefs about when life begins and laws that should apply to all of us. Being pregnant should not mean you have fewer rights.

This effort is about controlling women and returning back to a time when women could not make decisions about their bodies, futures, and destinies. The South Dakota legislature should reject this bill.