Title 34, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY

The Legislature finds that procedures terminating the life of an unborn child impose risks to the life and health of the pregnant woman. The Legislature further finds that a woman seeking to terminate the life of her unborn child may be subject to pressures which can cause an emo…

The Legislature finds that pregnant women contemplating the termination of their right to their relationship with their unborn children, including women contemplating such termination by an abortion procedure, are faced with making a profound decision most often under stress and …

The Legislature finds that, through the common law, the courts of the State of South Dakota have imposed a standard of practice in the health care profession that, except in exceptional circumstances, requires physicians and other health care practitioners to provide patients wit…

The South Dakota common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consent claims based upon the reasonable patient standard is reaffirmed and is hereby expressly declared to apply to all abortion procedures. The duty of a physician to disclose all facts about the natur…

No abortion may be performed unless the physician first obtains a voluntary and informed written consent of the pregnant woman upon whom the physician intends to perform the abortion, unless the physician determines that obtaining an informed consent is impossible due to a medica…

A physician who, knowingly or in reckless disregard, violates § 34-23A-2.1 , 34-23A-7 , or 34-23A-10.1 is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The court in which a conviction of a violation of § 34-23A-2.1 , 34-23A-7 , or 34-23A-10.1 occurs shall report such conviction to the Board o…

The health department shall publish, in culturally sensitive languages, the following printed materials, in such a way as to ensure that the information is easily comprehensible: (1) Materials designed to inform the pregnant woman of all the disclosures enumerated in § 34-23A-10.…

The Department of Health shall, by January 1, 2004, develop and maintain a multi-media website that contains web pages covering each of the following topics: (1) Embryonic and fetal development at various gestational stages; (a) Anatomical and physiological characteristics; and (…

To meet the requirement of subdivision 34-23A-10.1 (1), a physician shall use a form prescribed by the department. The department shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 specifying the form necessary to meet the requirement of this section. Source: SL 2019, ch 149 , § 1, …

No counselor, social worker, or anyone else who may be in such a position where the abortion question may appear as a part of their workday routine, shall be liable to any person for damages allegedly arising from advising or helping to arrange for or for refusal to arrange or en…

No physician, nurse, or other person who refuses to perform or assist in the performance of an abortion shall be liable to any person for damages arising from that refusal. Source: SL 1973, ch 146 , § 7.

No physician, nurse, or other person who performs or refuses to perform or assist in the performance of an abortion shall, because of that performance or refusal, be dismissed, suspended, demoted, or otherwise prejudiced or damaged by a hospital or other medical facility with whi…

No hospital licensed pursuant to the provisions of chapter 34-12 is required to admit any patient for the purpose of terminating a pregnancy pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. No hospital is liable for its failure or refusal to participate in such termination if the hosp…

Whenever an abortion procedure results in a live birth, a birth certificate shall be issued certifying the birth of said live born person even though said live person may thereafter die in a short time. In the event death does ensue after a short time, a death certificate shall b…

The same means and medical skills and treatment provided a child born alive consistent with accepted standards of medical practice for treatment of a child at that child's particular stage of gestation must be employed and provided to every child born alive immediately following …

In addition to the damages recoverable under §§ 34-23A-60 and 34-23A-61 , a mother upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted to be performed, whose child is born alive, may obtain money damages for any psychological injury the mother sustained where the physician's negligen…

Any tissue, organ, or body part of an unborn or newborn child who has been subject to an induced abortion, other than an abortion necessary to prevent the death of the mother, may not be used in animal or human research or for animal or human transplantation. Nothing in this sect…

Whenever a person is born alive in the course of an abortion procedure, the facts and circumstances involving the birth and the abortion procedure shall be considered relevant and material evidence in any proceeding under chapters 26-7A , 26-8A , 26-8B , and 26-8C for termination…

Any facility or physician performing abortions in this state shall forward to the Department of Health: (1) The number of abortions performed; (2) The method of abortion used in each abortion performed; (3) Complete pathology reports including the period of gestation of fetuses, …

If a medical emergency compels the performance of an abortion, the physician shall inform the female, prior to the abortion if possible, of the medical indications supporting his judgment that an abortion is necessary to avert her death or that a delay will create serious risk of…

If any part or provision of this chapter is determined to be invalid, or is preliminarily enjoined, all other parts not determined to be invalid or enjoined are severable from the invalid parts and remain in effect. If any part or provision of this chapter is determined to be inv…

Nothing in this chapter may be construed to repeal, by implication or otherwise, any provision not explicitly repealed. Source: SL 1973, ch 146 , § 17; SL 1993, ch 249 , § 10.

If any person performs an abortion willfully, wantonly, or maliciously in disregard to § 34-23A-2.1 , 34-23A-7 , or 34-23A-10.1 , the person upon whom such an abortion has been performed, and the parent of a minor child upon whom such an abortion was performed, or any of them, ma…

In every civil or criminal proceeding or action brought pursuant to this chapter, the court shall rule whether the anonymity of any female upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted shall be preserved from public disclosure if she does not give her consent to such disclosure…

The Department of Health shall monitor and analyze maternal mortality. The department may promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 concerning reporting related to maternal mortality, on death certificates or by other means, as will assist it in performing such analyses. Source: …

The department may collect data from health providers and medical facilities for purposes of performing analyses of pregnancy outcomes to determine the number, or if that is not possible, the best available estimate of the number, of each of the following: (1) Ectopic pregnancies…

The department shall include sections in its annual vital statistics and health status report detailing the findings derived from the analyses provided under §§ 34-23A-24 and 34-23A-25 . The department shall ensure that neither the information published in its reports, nor the in…

No person may perform a partial - birth abortion which results in the death of a human fetus or infant. A violation of this section is a Class 6 felony. Source: SL 1997, ch 129 , § 1.

The provisions of §§ 34-23A-27 to 34-23A-33 , inclusive, do not apply to any partial - birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of the mother because her life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury, including a life - endangering condition caused by or …

In the case of the death of a human fetus or infant as the result of a partial - birth abortion, the father of the human fetus or infant and, if the mother has not attained the age of eighteen years at the time of the partial - birth abortion, the maternal grandparents of the hum…

Civil relief pursuant to § 34-23A-29 includes money damages for all injuries, psychological or physical, that are proximately caused by a partial - birth abortion in violation of § 34-23A-27 . Any plaintiff with standing to sue pursuant to § 34-23A-29 who has paid for the costs o…

No woman upon whom a partial - birth abortion is performed may be prosecuted under the provisions of §§ 34-23A-27 to 34-23A-33 , inclusive, for conspiracy to violate § 34-23A-27 . Source: SL 1997, ch 129 , § 5.

For the purposes of §§ 34-23A-27 to 34-23A-33 , inclusive, a partial - birth abortion is any abortion in which the person who performs the abortion causes a living human fetus to be partially vaginally delivered before killing the infant and completing the delivery. Source: SL 19…

For the purposes of §§ 34-23A-27 to 34-23A-33 , inclusive, the term, fetus, and the term, infant, are used interchangeably to refer to the biological offspring of human parents. Source: SL 1997, ch 129 , § 7.

The Department of Health shall prepare a reporting form for physicians which shall provide for the collection of the following information: (1) The month, day, and year of the induced abortion; (2) The method of abortion used for each induced abortion; (3) The approximate gestati…

By January fifteenth of each year, each physician who performed or treated an induced abortion during the previous calendar year or the physician's agent, shall submit to the department a copy of the physicians' information report described in § 34-23A-34 with the requested data …

The department shall issue a public report on or before July first of each year providing the same detailed information required by the reporting forms required by §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive. The public report shall cover the entire previous calendar year and shall be …

The Department of Health shall prepare a reporting form for physicians which shall provide for the collection of the following information: (1) The number of pregnant mothers to whom the physician provided the information described in subdivision 34-23A-10.1 (1) and of those preg…

By February twenty - eighth of each year, each physician who provided, or whose agent provided, information to one or more females in accordance with § 34-23A-10.1 during the previous calendar year shall submit to the Department of Health a copy of the physicians' information rep…

The Department of Health shall prepare a reporting form for physicians which shall provide for the collection of the following information: (1) The number of females or parents whom the physician or agent of the physician provided the notice described in § 34-23A-7 ; and of each …

By February twenty - eighth of each year, each physician who provided, or whose agent provided, the notice described in § 34-23A-7 , and any physician who knowingly performed an abortion upon a female or upon a female for whom a guardian or conservator had been appointed because …

Any physician who fails to submit any report required by §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, within a grace period of thirty days following the due date is subject to a late fee of five hundred dollars for each additional thirty - day period, or portion of a thirty - day perio…

Any person who knowingly or recklessly fails to submit any report required by §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, or submits false information under §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1998, ch 209 , § 9.

The department shall ensure compliance with §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, and shall verify the data provided by periodic inspection of places where induced abortions are performed. Source: SL 1998, ch 209 , § 10.

No report made under §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, may include the name of any female having an abortion. The Department of Health shall take care to ensure that none of the information included in any report required by §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, including p…

For purposes of §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-45 , inclusive, only, the term, induced abortion, means the intentional termination of the life of a human being in the uterus. Source: SL 1998, ch 209 , § 12; SL 2021, ch 148 , § 2.