This week, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) issued remarks pushing back against the Democratic narrative that pro-life supporters do not care about women or babies. In her remarks, Noem also took aim at telemedicine abortions, claiming that this method has made pro-abortion advocates change their narrative on abortion being a decision between a woman and her doctor.
The remarks, which were reportedly made during an online press briefing with pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List (SBA), came ahead of Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which surrounds the constitutionality of a Mississippi law in that bans abortions at 15 weeks gestation.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments for Dobbs, which has the potential to overturn landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which occured in 1973 and 1992, respectively.
“This is an issue that those who are pro-choice try to dehumanize,” Noem said, according to Fox News.
“They [pro-choice advocates] try to make an argument that we [pro-life supporters] don’t care about women, that we don’t care about these babies,” she added. “That’s just a false narrative that we have to push aggressively back against.”
On the issue of telemedicine abortions, Noem added that this method of abortion is more dangerous for woman, which shows that pro-abortion advocates are “hypocritical” because it allows women to make an “impromptu” and “not well-informed” decision.
“For years and years, we’ve heard liberals talk about this decision on abortion being between a woman and her doctor,” she explained. “Now, they’re changing their complete argument to now this can be a decision between a woman and virtually any stranger over the phone – that she doesn’t even have to prove it’s a doctor…or an informed decision.”
In September, as Landon covered, Noem signed an Executive Order banning telemedicine abortions in the state. The order requires that abortion-inducting drugs, such as mifepristone and misoprostol, be picked up in-person rather than transported via mail. The Order requires that abortion-inducing drugs can only be provided by a physician licensed in South Dakota after an in-person examination.
After signing the Order. Noem appeared in an interview with Fox News where she noted that she is ardently pro-life and appointed someone in her office to work as a pro-life advocate. Additionally, she noted that she has been in touch with lawmakers in Texas to look at how South Dakota could create legislation similar to S.B. 8.
“Everybody knows that I’m pro-life and do not support any kind of abortions,” Noem said in the interview. “But, here what the Biden administration is doing is trying to put forward abortion on demand. And we’re going to stop them and make sure that that’s not available in our state.”
Noem, who has three children and a granddaughter, also reportedly argued that women do not need to choose between career success and having children. She and more than 200 other women signed an amicus brief challenging Casey’s contention that abortion has allowed women to participate equally in “the economic and social life” of the United States.
“It may be possible to claim anecdotally that a particular woman’s abortion seemed to preserve her opportunity to pursue a particular job or degree. But it is impossible to claim that abortion access is specially responsible for the progress that American women have made,” the brief states. “The Casey plurality claimed that the ability of women to participate in the economic and social life of the nation depended on their access to abortion. Yet historical review of the half-century preceding Roe demonstrates a steady expansion of social, economic, and political opportunities for women—all without legal access to abortion.”
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