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The abortion lobby has been spreading a dangerous lie. Since the overturn of Roe, activists have run with a false narrative that pregnant women who live in states with pro-life laws cannot receive lifesaving medical care. In trying to thwart pro-life bills from becoming law, promote abortion ballot measures, and elect pro-abortion candidates, abortion activists have relied on this lie to justify the move toward unlimited abortion throughout all of pregnancy. A policy solution exists, however, and South Dakota is the first state to legislate on combatting the misinformation. 

The Lie:  

The abortion industry’s claim that doctors cannot act is becoming the movement’s number one talking point and the lie has spread far and wide. Here are just three examples from the last year: 

1. In a recent press release related to the EMTALA lawsuit, the ACLU said, “The extraordinary lengths politicians will go to prevent pregnant people from getting care necessary to preserve their health and lives should leave all Americans very frightened.. . . [women] will die as a result of the abortion bans.”   
2. In Ohio during the Issue 1 abortion amendment vote, an ad claimed, “In Ohio, government’s life-threatening abortion ban ties the hands of doctors putting women at risk when complications arise later in pregnancy” and voting yes “gets government out of the way so doctors can protect women’s lives.”  
3. As North Carolina lawmakers passed a first-trimester protection, the Charlotte Observer ran a column from a doctor with the title “more women will die if NC enacts a 12-week abortion ban.” 

The Truth:

The truth is that every state in the country with a pro-life protection and all federal pro-life laws have a life of the mother exception, and allow for timely and necessary care for pregnant women in an emergency.  

A handful of doctors in pro-life states have acted recklessly, unfortunately, telling an Oklahoma woman that she should wait in her car until she bleeds more or a Florida woman that she should get on an airplane while hemorrhaging. When the media has amplified these stories, they have put women at risk by failing to fact-check the abortion lobby’s dangerous narrative. Likewise, many medical groups and hospital systems have not provided any guidance, adding confusion amongst some medical professionals and the public.  

The Solution? 

States can combat abortion law misinformation with ‘Med Ed’ policies. While abortion activists’ only solution to these tragic instances is unlimited abortion throughout all of pregnancy, the answer is to make the truth that pregnant women can and should receive timely care abundantly clear to doctors and the public.  

South Dakota is the first state in the nation to take up a bill creating a training video and materials to educate doctors and hospitals throughout the state on the ability and necessity of providing emergency care to pregnant women under the state’s life at conception law. The materials will be established through the Department of Health and with input from the attorney general, medical professionals and legal experts. The video will cover the details of the state’s abortion law, the most common medical conditions that threaten the life or health of a pregnant woman, the standards of care for treating a pregnant woman in a medical emergency, and a practitioner’s ability to use reasonable medical judgment in all situations.  

Other states have taken similar steps administratively: Florida created telemedicine guidance, Nebraska created guidance for the Let Them Grow Act, and Oklahoma and Kentucky attorneys general issued advisory opinions.   

Coming Together 

Republican or Democrat, pro-life or pro-choice – Med Ed is a policy we should all support to protect women. We have seen this unification in South Dakota where the Med Ed bill is bi-partisan legislation that has broad support and is co-sponsored by a Democrat. In its first committee, no one testified against the bill. One Democrat voted against it because the bill mentions the attorney general, but she said she may vote for it on the floor. 

Those who testified in favor of the bill included the Governor’s Office, Department of Health, and Sanford Health: 

Grace Beck, Sanford Health:  

At Sanford Health we recognize that each time mother walks through our doors we’ve been entrusted with the health of two patients. The mother and the child are supportive of House Bill 1224 and appreciative of the prime sponsors efforts to provide clarity around our abortion laws.  

Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt:  

This issue of taking care of moms, and abortion in general has become a very political issue. This bill is intended to take the political nature of that outside and not have it be a part of this bill. This bill is solely about taking care of moms and taking care of babies and also making sure that providers have that clarification that they’ve asked for. 

Adam Schwend, SBA Pro-Life America:  

This will be the first time in the nation that this passes and looking forward to seeing this happen in South Dakota. 

Ian Fury, Gov. Kristi Noem’s Chief of Communications:  

These materials will provide clarity to medical professionals, peace for their patients and will improve the lives of children not yet born.  

SD Department of Health Secretary Melissa Magstadt:  

I had other health systems that said, you know what, we would love to participate in something like this and help them to develop some clarity and some guidelines for how to navigate our laws as they stand. 

The problem is political, but the Med Ed solution is not. It is the right step for states to take to protect women.