SD Gov. Noem Pledges to Institute State’s Telemedicine Abortion Ban

Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that she will ban telemedicine appointments with abortion providers who prescribe pills online on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Partial transcript as follows:

MARGARET BRENNAN: So there’s a lot of confusion here. So South Dakota is one of 30 states that will limit access to telemedicine abortions, which allow patients to receive these pills in the mail that would allow them to end their pregnancy. The president has said he’s going to use the Justice Department to intervene here if there’s an attempt to stop women from receiving these pills. Are you prepared for that kind of legal battle? Are you actually going to seize mail? How would you stop women from actually receiving this federally approved medication?

NOEM: Well, we’ve already addressed this and in many ways in the state of South Dakota, I brought a bill that would ban telemedicine abortions, which means a doctor of the internet or over the phone could prescribe an abortion for an individual because these are very dangerous medical procedures, a woman is five times more likely to end up in an emergency room if they’re utilizing this kind of–

BRENNAN: This is an FDA approved drug.

NOEM: –method for an abortion. So, it’s something that should be under the supervision of a medical doctor and it is something in South Dakota that we’ve made sure happens that way–

BRENNAN: But, that’s what I’m asking you for specifics of because–

NOEM: – at the state level

BRENNAN: –because at the state level–

NOEM: and that’s the debate–

BRENNAN: Right, but what is happening here is incredibly important and precedent setting. This is a federally approved drug. Are you saying the state of South Dakota is now going to overrule the FDA and decide which drugs are going to be available to its residents?

NOEM: And many of those decisions are made at the state level, they absolutely are. That’s what states do–

BRENNAN: Will you stop- if it’s sent in the mail will you intercede and stop it from being received?

NOEM: –and, you know there’s- it’s certain rights that are protected- there are certain protections that are guarded under the Constitution of the United States. The rest of these items are left to the states, the 10th Amendment guarantees us that. What the Supreme Court said was that the Constitution does not give a woman the right to have an abortion. That means that in each state they will make the decision how they handle these situations.

BRENNAN: Exactly and that’s–

NOEM: –and in South Dakota we’ve already had a bill passed that set on telemedicine abortions, that we don’t believe it should be available, because it is a dangerous situation for those individuals without being medically supervised by a physician.

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