'Protect the next generation': South Dakota governor signs 3 life-affirming bills

South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden has signed a series of bills into law which are meant to halt the flow of illegal abortion pills, clarify the definition of abortion, and educate children about human prenatal development.

Key Takeaways:

•  Rhoden said South Dakota is one of the most pro-life states in the country, stating that preborn children are human beings worthy of protection and respect.

• The bills seek to stop illegal abortion pills from being sent into the state, to further education about the humanity of the preborn, and provide clarity in pro-life laws.

The Details:

"South Dakota is the most pro-life state in America,” Rhoden said, adding that state law reflects “the fact that an unborn child is a person – and that child is worthy of our protection and respect.” He emphasized that by cutting off illegal abortion pills, the state continues “to stand for life and protect the next generation of South Dakotans.”

Rhoden’s signed bills include the following:

• HB 1274, the Anti-Chemical Abortion Pill Trafficking Act, empowers the Attorney General with explicit authority to prosecute the transport of abortion pills meant for illegal in-state abortions.

The bill states, in part:

Any person who administers to any person or who prescribes or procures for any person any medicine, drug, or substance or uses or employs any instrument or other means with intent thereby to procure an abortion, unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

The abortion pill regimen intentionally ends the life of an preborn child in the womb, and a recently analysis stated that the drug mifepristone (the first drug in the two-drug regimen) is associated with serious adverse event rates that are 22 times higher than what is currently listed on the FDA's drug label.

Rhoden collaborated with Attorney General Marty Jackley to stop the unlawful advertising of abortion pills in the state, and this new law now permits South Dakota to act beyond merely banning pro-abortion advertisements. It can now actively investigate traffickers who try to lure South Dakota women into aborting their babies.

1st Trimester Abortion | The Abortion Pill | What Is Abortion?

• HB 1257 addresses a common line of attack against pro-life laws by clearly distinguishing between abortion and legitimate medical care in tragic situations such as miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. The bill changes the legal definition of abortion to clarify that addressing an ectopic pregnancy or managing a miscarriage is not deemed as an abortion as per South Dakota law, reassuring doctors and families that vital interventions to save a mother’s life or health would not not criminalized.

An excerpt of the text of HB 1257 reads: 

‘Abortion,’ the act of administering, prescribing, providing, selling, or using any drug, medicine, or other substance, or providing, selling, or using any device or instrument, with the intent to terminate a clinically diagnosable pregnancy, including the elimination of one or more unborn children in a multifetal pregnancy, with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child, provided the term does not include:

(a) Medical treatment that is provided to a pregnant female and results in the accidental or unintentional death of the unborn child;

(b) Treatment to resolve a miscarriage;

(c) The treatment or removal of an ectopic pregnancy;

(d) The removal from the uterus of a deceased unborn child; or

(e) Any medical procedure performed for the purpose of saving the life or preserving the health of the unborn child;

(2) ‘Ectopic pregnancy,’ the implantation of an embryo outside the uterus, in an abnormal location in the uterus, or in a scarred portion of the uterus;

(3) ‘Miscarriage,’ the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy, including the circumstances of an inevitable miscarriage, an incomplete miscarriage, a missed miscarriage, and a septic miscarriage;

(4) ‘Pregnant’, the human female reproductive condition of having a living unborn child within the female's body, throughout every stage of the unborn child's life and development, from fertilization to full gestation and childbirth;

(5) ‘Reasonable medical judgment,’ a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical condition involved; and

(6) ‘Unborn child,’ an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.

• HB 1313, the third initiative , mandates education in prenatal human growth and development, enabling students to learn scientifically grounded facts about unborn life in the womb. This curriculum requirement is in sync with a wider national and international trend among pro-life legislators who view prenatal education as indispensable for fostering a pro-life  culture that acknowledges the unborn child as a human being and accords him or her with dignity. 

A Never Before Seen Look At Human Life In The Womb | Baby Olivia

Zoom In:

Previously, Rhoden also signed a slew of “taking care of our people” bills, highlighting principles that blend resilient safeguards for preborn human beings with practical support for families and vulnerable residents.

South Dakota already has some of the strongest abortion restrictions in the country, protecting preborn children throughout pregnancy, with an exception when a mother’s life is in danger.

By suppressing the illegal shipment of abortion pills, South Dakota is taking a firm stance that it will not permit out‑of‑state actors or online abortion mills to erode its defenses for preborn children and mothers.

By refining statutory language, the state addresses that doctors can and must treat women in medical emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancies, without hesitation.

By making prenatal development education compulsory, lawmakers are investing in the consciences of the next generation, ensuring that young South Dakotans learn the truth about how human life develops in the womb. 

Commentary:

Live Action founder and president Lila Rose responded to the news of Gov. Rhoden's signing of the prenatal development education bill. She stated in a press release:

“... This law will help ensure that students in South Dakota are taught the reality of human development in the womb through medically accurate, visually compelling instruction, including resources like Live Action’s Baby Olivia and Baby Oliver videos, which reveal the humanity of the preborn child from the very beginning. 

With South Dakota now becoming the seventh state to enact this kind of life affirming prenatal education law, it joins Idaho, Kansas, Tennessee, North Dakota, Indiana, and Iowa in advancing fact based standards that teach students the truth about life before birth. I urge every state in the nation to follow this example with bold action that protects the preborn and supports mothers and families, so that every child is welcomed and every human life is cherished.” 

The Bottom Line:

As abortion activists increasingly depend on mail‑order pills, states like South Dakota have begun to adopt new pro-life strategies focused on enforcement and education rather than surgical facilities alone.

Robust legal protections for the unborn with clear medical safeguards for women, as well as serious investment in teaching young people the truth about human life before birth, is a step in the right direction towards building a genuine culture of life in South Dakota and beyond.