South Dakota declines to appeal preliminary injunction of abortion law

The South Dakota attorney general’s office announced today that it would not seek to appeal a judge’s decision to grant temporary relief from H.B. 1217, a law that requires a woman who is seeking an abortion to wait at least 72 hours after first meeting with her doctor and to first prove that she has received “counseling” from a so-called “pregnancy help center,” which is not required to be medically licensed, accredited, or regulated by the state under the law.

The law goes farther than any in the country in attempting to impose restrictions on access to abortion care.

“On behalf of our patients, we are twice relieved,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “We stand with them in our efforts to ultimately overturn this outrageous and demeaning law.”

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Karen Schreier granted temporary relief from the law on June 30, saying that Planned Parenthood is likely to prevail on its challenge to each of its requirements. In finding that the “pregnancy help center” requirement is likely unconstitutional, the court said: “Forcing a woman to divulge to a stranger at a pregnancy help center the fact that she has chosen to undergo an abortion humiliates and degrades her as a human being. The woman will feel degraded by the compulsive nature of the Pregnancy Help Center requirements, which suggest that she has made the ‘wrong’ decision, has not really ‘thought’ about her decision to undergo an abortion, or is ‘not intelligent enough’ to make the decision with the advice of a physician. Furthermore, these women are forced into a hostile environment.”

The state of South Dakota also announced that it has filed documents supporting a request from two such “pregnancy help centers’” to intervene in the case. Planned Parenthood has opposed that request to intervene.

Planned Parenthood is represented by attorneys from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as well as Dorsey & Whitney and the American Civil Liberties Union.