The ability to decide whether to get an abortion is a fundamental right that should not be decided by state agencies or politicians.
That’s why we’re taking South Dakota to court.
Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of South Dakota filed a lawsuit this week challenging a new rule from the South Dakota Department of Health, created at the direction of Gov. Kristi Noem, that would place yet another medically unnecessary and burdensome restriction on abortion access in South Dakota. The rule would require patients to have to wait a minimum of 24 hours before they can receive the second of two medications necessary for a medication abortion. This would mean patients would have to visit a health center three separate times to have their abortion.
As the lawsuit explains, the rule violates the standard of care that has been in place for more than 20 years and the recommendations of leading medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. South Dakota will be the only state to require three visits for a medication abortion, making it one of the strictest regulations on medication abortion in the country. If allowed to take effect, the rule will violate the due process and the 14th amendment’s equal protection rights of our plaintiffs and their patients.
South Dakota already forces patients to wait an unnecessary 72 hours before an abortion, not including weekends and holidays, mandates state-biased counseling, and bans medication abortion via telehealth which has been proven safe and effective. Medication abortion is extremely safe and common and a standard method of terminating an early pregnancy. It is preferred by some patients because it allows patients to have more control over their abortion and more privacy. Planned Parenthood has been the only abortion provider in South Dakota for the past 20 years.
Abortion restrictions disproportionately hurt those who already have the hardest time accessing quality health care — people with low-income, Black, Latino and Indigenous communities, people in rural communities, and patients suffering from intimate partner violence. An additional visit, on top of the already laborious two visits required by law, would delay care and potentially prevent some patients from receiving the care they need altogether.
The ability to decide whether to get an abortion is a fundamental right that should not be decided by state agencies or politicians.
Abortion, including medication abortion, is and continues to be extremely safe. The most common method of medication abortion, which Planned Parenthood provides in South Dakota, is a combination regimen of two oral medications: mifepristone and misoprostol.
Since mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000, more than 4 million patients in the United States have relied on the mifepristone–misoprostol regimen to safely end their pregnancies. In 2020, approximately 40 percent of abortions in South Dakota were medication abortions.
The lawsuit was filed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the ACLU of South Dakota, and Michael Drysdale at Dorsey & Whitney on behalf of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) and their Medical Director, Dr. Sarah Traxler.
