Attorney General Jackley Confirms SCOTUS Abortion Pill Ruling Does Not Impact State Abortion Law
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley confirms that Thursday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to restrict access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, does not impact South Dakota’s current abortion law.
A group of anti-abortion doctors and medical associations challenged changes made by the Food and Drug Administration in the past 10 years that allowed more access to mifepristone. Attorney General Jackley earlier this year had joined 21 other attorneys general in supporting the group’s opposition to the FDA policies.
In its decision, the Supreme Court did not address whether the FDA lawfully acted when it had relaxed the rules for mifepristone’s use. Rather, the justices based their unanimous decision on procedural grounds, ruling that the opponents did not have the legal right to bring the suit against the FDA.
South Dakota abortion law makes it a Class 6 felony for anyone “who administers to any pregnant female or prescribes or procures for any pregnant female” a means for an abortion, except to save the life of the mother. The crime is punishable by two years in prison, a $4,000 fine or both.
“The court’s decision does not change the current FDA rules, and State law on mifepristone remains the same,” said Attorney General Jackley.
-30-
The abortion pill remains illegal in South Dakota, despite this ruling, and no US physician can prescribe it to a resident of the state. Correct? What if an out-of-state doctor did prescribe it and mail the pills? How would a prosecution proceed?
The likely scenario is a woman will get the pills mail order by lying to a doctor about how far along in her pregnancy she is, and since he can’t examine her over the internet he won’t know she’s really like, at 20 weeks, not 10. She’ll take them, then show up in a hospital ED because nobody told her how painful abortions (induced or spontaneous) like this are, and if she doesn’t completely expel the products of conception she might lose a lot of blood and need a D&C to stop it. And the ED doctor gets on the phone and tries to find a gynecologist willing to do an emergency D&C, or even try to deliver a viable infant, on a patient he has no relationship with, is probably on Medicaid so he won’t get paid for it, and the whole mess will be a catastrophe and she’ll end up suing everybody, the doctor who mailed the pills to her, who never would have done that if she had been truthful about how far along she was, the ED doctor, and the gynecologist who took her on.
Doctors hate it when that happens, and lawyers love it. Personal injury suits will take care of it.