South Dakota Searchlight notes that South Dakota’s new 2026 House Bill 1257, signed into law by Governor Larry Rhoden on March 20, is the first post-Dobbs state law to clarify a state’s abortion ban to purportedly protect health care professionals from prosecution for providing standard medical care that results in the death of a fetus.
But Sioux Falls OB-GYN Dr. Amy Kelley agrees with me that HB 1257 offers caregivers and pregnant women little real protection from the anti-abortion fanatics:
Dr. Amy Kelley, an OB-GYN in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who was the chair of the South Dakota chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists from 2023 to 2025, said lawmakers ignored her and other doctors’ concerns that the amended abortion ban is still too vague.
“The whole point of medicine is to prevent people from becoming on the brink of death, right? So are they expecting us to wait until that?” Kelley said. “It’s still not very clear, and the definition for miscarriage and ectopic is also not the one we wanted. It’s just not helpful.”
Kelley said that since her state enacted an abortion ban, she often waits longer to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons, and will sometimes send patients out of state for care. She noted that the new law doesn’t explain what level of risk to the pregnant woman justifies terminating a pregnancy.
“They want to say elective abortions are not allowed. But what do they consider elective?” she said. “Let’s say they have a heart condition and their risk of dying in pregnancy is 40%. Is that an elective abortion because their risk is not 100%?” [Sofia Resnick, “Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Seek to Redefine ‘Abortion’ to Exclude Medical Treatment,” Stateline, 2026.04.13]
When Leslee Unruh and Dale Bartscher are standing right at the Governor’s shoulders when he signs a bill, you know the bill is not making it easier for any women in any condition to abort her pregnancy.
If Republicans really want to end women’s health care choices state governments should outlaw obesity and encourage businesses like airlines and taxi services to charge more for obese people. Food stores would have scales at tills that add surcharges according to body mass index, businesses with buffets would have scales, too and anyone with a BMI over 23 will pay an additional $1.00 for every whole number above that. Gas stations would have scales that determine price per gallon according to BMI unless you have documentation in your debit/credit card updated by your physician that you’re on a weight reduction regimen and Mr. Trump’s health guru, Mr. Kennedy, apparently concurs.