Noem's abortion pill limit headed to South Dakota Senate

South Dakota Republican senators advanced a proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem that aims to make the state one of the hardest places to get abortion pills

PIERRE, S.D. -- South Dakota Republican senators on Monday advanced a proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem that aims to make the state one of the hardest places to get abortion pills, though its actual enactment depends on a federal court ruling.

Every Republican on the Senate Health and Human Services committee voted to advance the bill for a vote in the full chamber, even as one GOP lawmaker cautioned the Legislature on getting involved in the practice of medicine. The lone Democrat on the committee opposed it.

Shortly after the decision to advance the bill to the Senate floor where a vote has not yet been scheduled, the same committee unanimously rejected a separate proposal, brought by Noem’s Republican primary challenger Rep. Steve Haugaard, to ban use of the drugs for abortions altogether.

The Supreme Court’s willingness to consider striking down Roe v. Wade — the 1973 landmark decision that established the nationwide right to an abortion — has prompted a flurry of legislation in statehouses this year.