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Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025

Does the state of South Dakota penalize women for taking an abortion pill?

Megan Luther, South Dakota News Watch
no

While abortion is illegal in South Dakota, the state penalizes those who provide medical and surgical abortions rather than those who receive them.

The abortion pill is two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, and is generally taken no later than 12 weeks into a pregnancy.  

It’s a Class 6 felony in South Dakota for anyone to prescribe abortion pills or administer an abortion, except to save the life of the mother. Offenders can receive a $4,000 fine and/or two years in prison. However, state law says that a woman who obtains an unlawful abortion will not be criminally charged.

South Dakota’s abortion ban went into effect in June 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

In a 2024 ballot measure to restore abortion rights, 59% of South Dakota voters declined to enshrine the right to an abortion in the South Dakota Constitution.   

See a full discussion of this at South Dakota News Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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