State lawmakers are gearing up for the second week of the 2021 legislative session. Dozens of bills have already been filed, including the first of several?anticipated?bills?related to abortion.? But, it could be a few more working days before the legislature is in full swing.?
Lawmakers can file an unlimited number of bills until the end of next week.??
After that they can only file three more bills.?
At least one bill?deals with abortion. South Dakota considers itself on the cutting edge of abortion law in the country.?
?State Representative Fred Deutsch is a Republican from Watertown. He’s filed a bill to further clarify the state’s “child born alive” statute. It adds further language about rights to medical treatment, regardless of an abortion procedure.?
?It also adds a civil penalty of up to $100,000 dollars if a physician performs an?intact?dilation?and extraction procedure, but?the fetus?is viable and either?born?with?an injury or later?dies.?It allows the attorney general to bring the suit.?
State law already prohibits abortions following the 22nd?week of pregnancy,?unless it’s a medical emergency.??
Representative Deutsch’s bill is?one of several abortion-related bills expected to drop this year. Governor Kristi?Noem?wants the state legislature to ban abortions of fetuses with Down Syndrome. She made that announcement during her state of the state address last week.??
South Dakota law bans elective abortions after 12 weeks. According to one Rapid City OBGYN, the?standard blood test for Down Syndrome and other fetal anomalies occurs around 16 to 20 weeks.?
-Contact SDPB reporter Lee Strubinger by email.
