Legislation would require Health Department to make video interpreting state’s abortion ban

PIERRE — The state Department of Health would have to create a video “and other materials” interpreting the state’s abortion ban and an exception for the life of the mother, under a bill making its way through the Legislature.

“We were asked by the people of this state to bring clarity to this,” the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, told South Dakota Searchlight. “That’s what this does.”

The House of Representatives passed House Bill 1224 in a 63-6 vote Wednesday, sending it to a Senate committee. 

The bill “does not change any of our abortion laws,” Rehfeldt said. The state’s main abortion law is a ban with one exception “to preserve the life of the pregnant female.”   

The bill mandates the Department of Health to create an informational video and other materials by Sept. 1, 2024. 

The video and materials would have to describe:

• The state’s abortion law and acts that do and do not constitute an abortion.
• The most common medical conditions that threaten the life of a pregnant woman.
• The generally accepted standards of care applicable to the treatment of a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions.
• And the criteria that a practitioner, exercising reasonable medical judgment, might use in determining the best course of treatment for a pregnant woman experiencing life-threatening or health-threatening medical conditions and for her unborn child.

The department would be required to consult with the state attorney general and “stakeholders having medical and legal expertise.” Upon completion, the video and materials would have to be made available on the department’s website.

The bill is the latest attempt by Rehfeldt to clarify the meaning of the state’s abortion ban, after a failed attempt last year to further define the “life of the pregnant female” exception. Earlier this legislative session, an OB-GYN testified about the confusion surrounding language in the abortion ban, saying that an induced labor resulting in complications and the death of a baby could be deemed an abortion.

Although interpreting laws is typically the domain of the courts, the new bill would require published interpretations of the law by the executive branch, which is where the Department of Health is housed.

Dale Bartscher is the executive director of South Dakota Right To Life, which opposes abortion.

“At the end of the day, it’s the governor’s administration and Attorney General’s Office, who we trust, determining what is and is not in the video,” Bartscher said. 

Bartscher said his organization has been in conversation with the administration and the Department of Health since the idea for the bill came about. 

Meanwhile, a bill from Democrats establishing a right for women to make their own decisions about their reproductive health care, including abortion, was defeated in its first committee hearing Wednesday in a 7-0 vote. The bill also sought to repeal existing provisions that restrict abortion. 

South Dakotans could vote this fall on a citizen-led ballot measure that would restore abortion rights in the state constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment is being circulated for signatures now, with a goal of placing it on the Nov. 5 ballot.

A resolution declaring the Republican-controlled Legislature’s opposition to that ballot measure passed the Senate on Wednesday after previously passing the House.