The past few weeks of South Dakota’s 2024 legislative session have been enlightening – mostly because it is here that we see legislators’ true colors; whether they will put their words into action, or renege on their promises. Sadly, several legislators have taken a path of extremism this session.
Three bills in particular have unveiled the agenda of many of our Left-leaning elected officials – to repeal all pro-life laws, allow for parents to sign their kids up for chemical castration, and establish “non-consensual pregnancy” as an injury. Let’s dig into these bills and see just how far the left has gone:
Senate Bill 210: “Establish An Individual’s Right To Make Autonomous Decisions About The Individual’s Reproductive Health Care, And To Repeal Provisions Related To Abortion.”
This bill removes not some, but ALL abortion restrictions in our state, leaving the door wide open for radical interpretation and implementation. It has the same pitfalls as many other abortion bills we’ve seen, exemplified in Section 4 of the bill.
“A health care practitioner may provide abortion care in accordance with the practitioner’s professional judgment and scope of practice. If the health care practitioner determines that there is fetal viability, the health care practitioner may provide abortion care only if, in the exercise of professional judgment, the practitioner determines that an abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient” (emphasis added).
This section grants full authority for abortion doctors – who are in the business of making money when abortions are performed – to determine when or if someone needs an abortion, with absolutely no oversight. It is left to their “professional judgment,” which has caused irrevocable harm to countless women over the years, not to mention the millions of babies they have slaughtered without a second thought.
Senate Bill 216: “Modify Provisions Related To Prohibited Medical Interventions On Minors.”
This bill would amend the South Dakota law that prohibits minors from receiving “gender affirming care” such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments – because they are unsafe – to instead allow for those treatments to be implemented if the parents provide permission.
We KNOW that these medical interventions at a young age have disastrous consequences on these individuals, both mentally and physically, for the rest of their lives. Detransitioners are speaking out en masse to testify just that – but the Left wants to silence them for disagreeing with their money-making agenda.
Parents do not have the right to allow their children to harm themselves – no one has that right. This bill is irresponsible at best, and grossly negligent at worst. We must protect our children from the radical LGBT agenda at all costs.
House Bill 1204: “Establish A Civil Action For Nonconsensual Condom Removal.”
This bill does exactly as the title states, but also adds a new legal concept into our code: “Nonconsensual pregnancy.”
“A person who commits nonconsensual condom removal upon another is liable to that person for damages, punitive damages, reasonable costs and attorney fees, and any other relief the court deems proper. Damages awarded pursuant to this section may take into account the emotional impact on the person bringing the cause of action due to the risk of nonconsensual pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease,” the bill reads.
The legislative sponsor was looking to clarify that this act is illegal, but current SD law already addresses the issue. In addition to being duplicative of current laws, the bill would have added into code the term “nonconsensual pregnancy.” Weaved into the legislation was a clear assumption: A person can consent to intercourse without consenting to the possibility of a baby. We know this is fundamentally impossible.
In addition, it placed pregnancy into the category of an injury or direct harm. Things like rape and sexual violence are clearly wrong and clearly a form of harm, but a pregnancy should not be regarded by our laws as an injury.
We are thankful for the many good bills that have come out of the 2024 session thus far, but there are others just as radical as the ones listed above that we need your help pushing back against. If you’re interested in joining the fight, please click here for several ways you can do so, or reach out to us at: office@familyheritagealliance.org.
