Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday argued that abortion doctors, not patients, should be the ones targeted for prosecution after a new trigger law in South Dakota went into effect following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade.
During an interview, the South Dakota governor said that her state would charge doctors who violate the abortion ban and will not prosecute mothers.
Prosecuting Abortion Doctors
"We'll continue to have those debates on how we can support these mothers and what it means to really make sure we are not prosecuting mothers ever in a situation like this. It will always be focused toward those doctors who knowingly break the law to perform abortions in our state," she said.
With the Supreme Court's ruling, states can now enforce bans or increase restrictions on abortions. South Dakota has trigger laws that immediately went into effect and banned the procedure following the lifting of the precedent.
In the state, abortions are illegal, and performing the operation is now considered a felony unless it will save the life of the mother. South Dakota has no exceptions in place for the procedure, including for rape and incest, as per The Hill.
The South Dakota governor also said that she would be seeking to ban telemedicine appointments for abortions. Noem aims to stop abortion care providers from shipping abortion pills to women after an online consultation.
On Sunday, the official defended her state's new restrictions on abortions, arguing that "every life is precious" and that new technology showed how cruel the abortion procedure is for the unborn. She said that we now know more than we did about 10 to 15 years ago about what unborn babies go through and the pain they feel in the womb.
According to Fox News, Noem defended the Supreme Court's ruling, saying that she encouraged them to continue to follow the science, to continue to follow what we now know to be true today. The South Dakota governor was referring to women who do not feel like either the mother or the unborn child is a victim of an abortion.
Every Life is Precious
The American Medical Association released a statement calling the Supreme Court's ruling a "brazen violation of patients' rights. They argued that "states that end legal abortion will not end abortion, they will end safe abortion, risking devastating consequences, including patients' lives."
Now, Noem is calling for a special legislative session to launch a debate on how the state can best support mothers. She also launched a website, life.sd.gov, that aims to get resources to individuals with unplanned pregnancies or in crisis situations to coordinate financial assistance, health care, and nonprofit support.
In defense of the no exception to rape, Noem said that every life is precious and argued that they wanted to make sure that those lives were protected. The South Dakota governor said that she never believed that having a tragedy or tragic situation happen to someone is reason enough for another tragedy to occur, CBS News reported.
Related Article: Roe v. Wade Overturned; Which US States Are Now Banning Abortion?
