The pro-life movement is gaining momentum nationwide as Republican governors continue to enact legislation restricting abortion access. Earlier this year, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation restricting abortion. Planned Parenthood has since challenged both states on their laws. Last month, Texas's law, S.B. 8, took effect, outlawing abortion upon fetal heartbeat detection. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold S.B. 8 and will hear the abortion-centric case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on Dec. 1, which involves a law in Mississippi that bans abortion at 15 weeks gestation.
Aside from Dobbs, there is another impending federal court case, Planned Parenthood v. Noem, on the horizon. Planned Parenthood v. Noem centers around a South Dakota law that requires women seeking an abortion to receive counseling from a third-party pregnancy center to ensure they receive all of the information on the procedure before receiving an abortion.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is appealing the current ruling at the District Court, which enjoined the provision in the law that requires women to receive counseling from a third-party pregnancy center before obtaining an abortion. The case is headed to the United States 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorney Jay Sekulow from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) will represent Noem in the case. Previously, Sekulow was known for being on former President Trump's defense team during his impeachment trial.
"To be clear, the South Dakota law is not denying abortions. They are simply asking for a third party to give women more information about the procedure beforehand in order to let them make an informed choice. Why would Planned Parenthood be against that?" Sekulow said in a news release on Sept. 17. "Ultimately, that woman can still decide to have an abortion. There is nothing in it that prevents abortion. The bill just simply says look, if you are about to have an abortion, before you get informed consent from Planned Parenthood, is not enough. Because they are in that business. We want you to go to a third party unrelated, licensed, and talk with them. It is not a faith-based thing. It is just going to talk to someone about the consequences of abortion, the risks of abortions, and the options for abortions."
"Jay is a brilliant conservative legal mind," Noem said in a statement. "He's argued 12 Supreme Court cases, including several religious liberty and pro-life cases. He will bring the same tenacity to protecting unborn children here in South Dakota."
Noem, who assumed office in 2019, is staunchly pro-life. This year, Noem signed Executive Order 2021-12, effectively banning telemedicine abortions in the state. Furthermore, she stated in an interview recently that she is looking into enacting legislation in South Dakota similar to the "heartbeat" law in Texas that outlaws abortion upon fetal heartbeat detection.
"On behalf of the ACLJ, I am honored to represent Governor Noem and the good people of South Dakota," Sekulow said in a statement. "This commonsense legislation protects mothers and the unborn children."