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Legislation seeks to define South Dakota abortion ban’s life-of-the-mother exception

Ian Fury, senior adviser and director of communications for South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, testifies to a legislative committee on Feb. 23, 2026, at the Capitol in Pierre. Fury testified in favor of a bill defining what's allowed by the one exception in South Dakota's abortion ban. (Photo by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

PIERRE — An attempt to define what’s allowed by the sole exception in South Dakota’s abortion ban advanced 10-2 on Monday in a legislative committee.

South Dakota lawmakers adopted a trigger ban in 2005 that took effect in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortions are prohibited in the state, the law says, “unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female.”

Since the ban took effect, there’s been debate about what the exception allows. Some abortion-rights advocates have said the wording of the exception could discourage doctors from administering necessary care for pregnancy complications.

Supporters of the new bill, including the Governor’s Office, the South Dakota Catholic Conference, and South Dakota Right to Life, testified Monday that the bill is a response to “misinformation” about the state’s abortion ban lacking clarity.

[Divide remains on clarity of abortion exception after state releases video]

“We should still take that lie off the table and make it resoundingly clear that in the future, abortion does not include ectopic pregnancy management, miscarriage management and the like,” Ian Fury said, testifying on behalf of Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office.

The bill would spell out that several pregnancy-related treatments are not abortions, including treatment to resolve a miscarriage, treatment or removal of an ectopic pregnancy, removal of a deceased unborn child, and medical treatment that unintentionally results in the loss of the pregnancy.

The two votes against the bill came from the committee’s two Democrats. Opponent testimony came from the South Dakota chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the South Dakota State Medical Association. They warned that defining what’s not an abortion could unintentionally classify some other pregnancy-related procedures as abortion care, creating more confusion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota also opposes the bill.

“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,” said Samantha Chapman, the organization’s advocacy manager.

The South Dakota Legislature and former Gov. Kristi Noem adopted a law during the 2024 legislative session requiring the state Department of Health to create a video clarifying the state’s abortion ban exception and how it should be applied. That video did little to quell concerns from abortion-rights advocates, who described it as ambiguous and non-legally binding.

Supporters of the new bill described it as putting the video’s guidance into law.

Another pending bill this legislative session is aimed at stopping abortion pills and other abortion-related items from being advertised and distributed in the state. The bill would make it a felony to knowingly dispense, distribute, sell or advertise abortion pills and any other “article” or “instrument” intended to be used for an abortion. It would also allow the state attorney general to seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, with payments deposited into the “life protection subfund,” used to defend the state’s anti-abortion laws.

That bill has passed a committee and awaits action by the House of Representatives.

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