In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans — even as doctors and patients insist the laws’ exceptions are dangerously unclear, resulting in denied treatment to some pregnant women in need.
Instead, GOP leaders accuse abortion rights advocates of deliberately spreading misinformation and doctors of intentionally denying services in an effort to undercut the bans and make a political point. At the same time, however, some states are taking steps that they say will provide more clarity about when abortions can be legally performed.
The Republican-controlled South Dakota Legislature wants to create a video in which medical experts — and the state’s attorneys — would explain to doctors and patients when abortions can be legally performed. The measure was passed last month and is now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who has indicated she will sign it.
These videos are not meant to clarify anything. They pay lip service to the idea that doctors have some discretion, all the while reiterating that doctors that cross the ill-defined line are going to jail.
The line is intentionally fuzzy because they know that if each individual doctor has to put their license to practice on the line every time they perform an abortion, the line will end up getting pulled dramatically in one direction.
I am convinced that if we feel that there are any medical exceptions that are valid justification for providing an abortion, then we need to legalize the practice fully. Because legislators have proven that they can’t legislate this in good faith. It is better to have doctors make these decisions than legislators.