SD Legislature balks at Noem’s Heartbeat Bill

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - In what Gov. Kristi Noem called an “unprecedented action,” a South Dakota House committee declined to introduce her “heartbeat bill.”

Wednesday morning, the House State Affairs Committee balked at the bill, which mirrors a similar measure signed into law in Texas. The bill would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

You can read the governor’s draft legislation here.

“The South Dakota state legislature has always guaranteed that every bill gets a hearing, and that is something that I’ve always loved about our process,” Noem said. “We have rules and an open process, and we play by those rules. To our knowledge, this is the first time in decades that a bill has been denied a hearing.”

According to Dakota News Now, Noem claimed lawmakers refused to take action “based on the advice” of an out-of-state lawyer from New Jersey.

“South Dakota deserved to have a hearing on a bill to protect the heartbeats of unborn children. We can hear heartbeats at six weeks, but I’m disappointed this bill was not granted even one hearing,” the governor said.