Media Center: Press Release

"Banning abortion does not eliminate this procedure—it only drives abortion underground, increasing the risks of substandard care."

New York, NY—South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds has signed into law a ban on almost all abortions in the state. HB 1215, also known as the Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act, makes performing an abortion or prescribing medication that could cause an abortion a felony, except in cases where the woman’s life is in danger. Women who receive illegal abortions would not be charged with a crime, but doctors who provide them would. In addition to banning abortion, the act defines human life as beginning “immediately at fertilization”—a particular religious interpretation not shared by all beliefs—and states that “the guarantee of due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings.” Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH), which advocates for comprehensive and evidence-based reproductive healthcare, today issued the following statement from board chair Wendy Chavkin, MD, MPH:

"Women and doctors in South Dakota have been dealt a terrible blow. Far from protecting women’s health and lives, the South Dakota legislature has imperiled women by enacting an anti-scientific, politically motivated, harmful law. We know from U.S. history, as well as global experience, that banning abortion does not eliminate this procedure—it only drives abortion underground, increasing the risks of substandard care. Women in South Dakota may now be forced to seek illegal abortions, and doctors in the state will be powerless to help them.

“As physicians, our first priority is our patients’ health. We want to provide the best possible care to our patients, but we cannot do so when politicians dictate which procedures are appropriate and legal. If these politicians truly cared about women’s health, they would work to provide safe and legal abortion care, and emphasize comprehensive sex education and access to contraception. Instead, they have allowed politics to triumph over medicine, and have endangered the lives of South Dakotan women."

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