(The Hill) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Sunday said she will ban telemedicine appointments with abortion care providers who prescribe pills online in the GOP-controlled state in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Noem told host Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that she brought a bill forward in her state to ban the telemedicine appointments in order to block women from being prescription abortion pills online and receiving them through the mail.
“These are very dangerous medical procedures,” Noem argued. “We don’t believe it should be available because it is a dangerous situation for an individual without being medically supervised by a physician.”
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, punting the future of abortion rights back to states to decide whether they want to ban abortion procedures or tighten restrictions.
South Dakota passed a trigger law that went into effect immediately after Roe was overturned.
The state’s law bans abortions except in the case of saving a mother’s life and makes it a felony to perform the procedure.
Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol, a legal fight is likely to ensue between GOP states pushing to restrict access to the pills and the federal government under the Biden administration.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday said the Department of Justice will protect women’s abortion rights and their ability to get the pills.
Noem on Sunday said the Biden administration has “been overstepping its authority” and states will now decide what restrictions on abortions they wish to pass.
“The Constitution does not give a women the right to an abortion,” Noem told Brennan on CBS. “The power to make these decisions really goes to each individual state.”