By signing an executive order to restrict telemedicine and chemical abortions in South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem is the latest potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate to weigh in on an issue close to the hearts of many GOP primary voters.
The measure, issued by Noem on Tuesday, comes a week after the Supreme Court allowed to stand, at least temporarily, a Texas law outlawing abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Noem’s order could also set the stage for a challenge from the Justice Department, which moved this week to oppose Texas’s abortion restrictions. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Monday that the department would explore “all options” to challenge Texas’s Senate Bill 8 after the Supreme Court declined an emergency request last week to block the law on procedural grounds.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another potential 2024 Republican White House candidate, signed the Texas law and has promoted it vociferously. Another Republican governor often mentioned as a 2024 presidential candidate, Florida’s Ron DeSantis, has of late touted his anti-abortion credentials.
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In response to the high court’s decision, the Biden administration last week announced “a whole-of-government effort” to “ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions.”
Noem’s order in South Dakota restricts both abortions via telemedicine and abortion-inducing drugs themselves. Under the order, only a physician licensed in the state may prescribe abortion-inducing drugs following an in-person examination, and the drugs may not be dispensed by mail or other delivery services.
In a statement announcing her executive order, Noem said the Biden administration “is continuing to overstep its authority and suppress legislatures that are standing up for the unborn to pass strong pro-life laws.”
“They are working right now to make it easier to end the life of an unborn child via telemedicine abortion,” Noem said. “That is not going to happen in South Dakota. I will continue working with the legislature and my Unborn Child Advocate to ensure that South Dakota remains a strong pro-life state.”
Pro-abortion rights groups criticized Noem’s order, describing it as an overreach.
Kristin Hayward, manager of advocacy and development in South Dakota for the Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, told the Argus Leader that “most South Dakotans support the right to safe, legal abortion, but Noem is following a vocal minority that is attacking abortion, contraception, and comprehensive sexual education in this country.”
Hayward added, “Planned Parenthood will always stand up for patients and communities.”
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Janna Farley, communications director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, told the Associated Press that abortion “is a private medical decision, one that is protected under the U.S. Constitution, and it’s disappointing that Gov. Noem continues to insert herself into the patient-doctor relationship.”
Anti-abortion groups, including the Susan B. Anthony List, praised Noem’s order.
“We commend Governor Noem for taking this bold action that will save lives from dangerous chemical abortions, which have a fourfold higher rate of complications compared to surgical abortion,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, said in a statement.
