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March 4, 2022

South Dakota Passes Law Requiring Women to See a Doctor Before Taking Abortion Pills

By a remarkable margin of 32-2, the South Dakota Senate voted on March 2 to pass a bill requiring women to have in-person examinations before chemical abortions (abortions using the abortion pill regimen). The bill already passed the House and is set to be sent to pro-life Gov. Kristi Noem's desk.

Noem, who introduced the legislation, is expected to sign it into law. After the bill passed, Noem tweeted,

"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."

Many pro-life states are taking action to protect women from potential complications from self-managed abortion procedures involving abortion pills. If doctors do not verify the gestational age of the child or check for rare pregnancy conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, women can face deadly complications. Women who take abortion pills later in pregnancy or have ectopic pregnancies can suffer from severe hemorrhaging. If they do so while alone at home, which is becoming more common as abortion businesses prescribe pills via telemedicine, the risk to a woman's life is much higher.

Mail distribution of abortion pills was prohibited under FDA regulations until 2020. The FDA argued that suspending the regulations would mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Under the Biden administration, the FDA announced that the rule would be dropped completely.