South Dakota Sex-Selective Abortion Ban (HB 1162)

HB 1162 prohibits the performance of an abortion with knowledge that the pregnant mother is seeking the abortion due to the sex of the unborn child.

The law amends SDCL § 34-23A-56 to include a requirement that prior to scheduling an abortion, a physician must inquire into whether the pregnant mother knows the sex of her unborn child and if so, whether the mother is seeking an abortion due to the sex of the unborn child.

The law also amends SDCL § 34-23A-10.1, South Dakota’s informed consent law, to include a requirement that a physician provide a written statement that sex-selective abortions are illegal in the state of South Dakota and that a pregnant mother cannot have an abortion, either solely or partly, due to the unborn child’s sex, regardless of whether that unborn child is a girl or a boy or whether it is of the pregnant mother’s free will or the result of the use of pressure and coercion.

The law also amends SDCL § 34-23A-34 to require that physicians report the following information on a form to be prepared by the Department of Health:

1. The sex of the unborn child;
2. Whether the pregnant mother used a sex-determining test;
3. What type of sex-determining test the pregnant mother used; and
4. The approximate gestational age of the unborn child, in weeks, when the test was taken.

A violation of this law is a Class 6 felony. The law prohibits penalties from being assessed against the pregnant mother upon whom the abortion is performed or attempted to be performed.

 

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