After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Illegal

South Dakota

South Dakota is enforcing its trigger ban, which criminalizes abortion. In November 2024, voters failed to approve an amendment to the state constitution that would have protected abortion rights in the first trimester.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, Total Ban
  • Medication Abortion, Telemedicine Ban
  • Method Ban
  • Reason Ban
  • Trigger Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Notification Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Regulation of Location
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

State Protections

South Dakota does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion. In 2023, the state enacted a law creating an exception to the abortion ban as it applies to the pregnant person stating that a person who receives “an unlawful abortion,” will not be “held criminally liable.”1

In 2024, South Dakota voters failed to approve an amendment to the state Constitution to prohibit government interference with the right to abortion during the first trimester and allowing for regulation in the second and third trimesters.2

Restrictions

On June 24, 2022, South Dakota began enforcing its trigger ban, which prohibits all abortions except to preserve the life of the pregnant person,3 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.4 The trigger ban was initially enacted in 2005.5

South Dakota has not repealed other laws related to abortion. South Dakota prohibits D&X procedures6 and abortions sought because of the sex of the pregnancy7 or a fetal Down Syndrome diagnosis.8 In 2022, South Dakota enacted a law limiting the availability of medication abortion to nine weeks and requiring people to return to the clinic within 72 hours.9

South Dakota law includes requirements that pregnant people must undergo a mandatory seventy-two-hour waiting period (excluding weekends and annual holidays);10 biased counseling;11 and prohibitions on public funding for abortion.12 The state requires that a parent or legal guardian is notified forty-eight hours prior to a minor’s abortion;13 alternatively, a judge can approve a minor’s petition without such notification.14

South Dakota retains targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws related to facilities15 and reporting.16 The state continues to limit the provision of abortion care to physicians and explicitly prohibits certified nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwifes from the provision of abortion care.17 South Dakota also restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.18 Providers who violate South Dakota’s abortion restrictions may face criminal and civil penalties.19

Historical Restrictions

South Dakota repealed its pre-Roe ban in 1977.20 South Dakota’s twenty-two weeks LMP gestational ban was automatically repealed by its trigger law following the Dobbs decision.21

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme court has overturned Roe, South Dakota is enforcing its trigger ban, which criminalizes abortion. In November 2024, voters failed to approve an amendment to the state constitution that would have protected abortion rights in the first trimester.

  1. S.D. Codified Laws § 22-17-5.2. ↩︎
  2. Letter from Attorney General Mark A. Vargo to Secretary of State Steve Barnett (Aug. 22, 2022), available at https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/2024%20Assets/2024CAAGRickWeilandabortionfinal.pdf (last visited Feb. 4, 2026); Statewide Ballot Questions, South Dakota Sec’y of State, https://electionresults.sd.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=BQ&map=CTY (last visited Feb. 4, 2026) (showing the failure to pass Constitutional Amendment G). ↩︎
  3. S.D. Codified Laws § 22-17-5.1; see also Gov. Noem and Legislative Leaders Announce Plans for Special Session to Save Lives, Help Mothers, South Dakota State News (June 24, 2022), https://news.sd.gov/news?id=news_kb_article_view&sys_id=92e8a54c1b10a9506e4aa97ae54bcb9d. ↩︎
  4. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 597 U.S (June 24, 2022), rev’d Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 945 F.3d 265, 274 (5th Cir. 2019). ↩︎
  5. S.D. Codified Laws § 22-17-5.1. ↩︎
  6. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-27 to 34-23A-33. ↩︎
  7. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-63 to 34-23A-64. ↩︎
  8. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-89 to 34-23A-93. ↩︎
  9. S.D. Codified Laws § 36-4-47 (effective upon the Eighth Circuit vacating the preliminary injunction in Planned Parenthood Minnesota, N. Dakota, S. Dakota v. Noem, No. 22-1362, 2022 WL 3449758 (8th Cir. July 22, 2022), which triggered enforcement of the South Dakota law once no injunction remained and no further appeal was pending). ↩︎
  10. S.D. Codified Laws § 34-23A-56. ↩︎
  11. S.D. Codified Laws § 34-23A-10.1. ↩︎
  12. S.D. Codified Laws § 28-6-4.5 (exception if necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant person). ↩︎
  13. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-7, 34-23A-1(6). ↩︎
  14. S.D. Codified Laws § 34-23A-7.1. ↩︎
  15. S.D. Codified Laws § 34-23A-51; S.D. Admin. R. art. 44:67. ↩︎
  16. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-34 to 34-23A-42, 34-23A-19. ↩︎
  17. See, e.g., S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-1(7) (defining “physician” as an individual licensed under ch. 36‑4); 34-23A-56 (providing that no abortions may be scheduled except by a licensed physician); 36-9A-17.2 (stating that certified nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives may not providing abortions). ↩︎
  18. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-23A-56, 34-4-47. ↩︎
  19. S.D. Codified Laws §§ 22-17-6, 34-23A-22. ↩︎
  20. See S.D. Codified Laws§ 22-17-1, repealed by 1977 S.D. Sess. Laws ch. 189, § 126. ↩︎
  21. 2005 S.D. Sess. Laws ch. 187, § 4 (“This Act is effective on the date that the states are recognized by the United States Supreme Court to have the authority to prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy.”); see Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org.,597 U.S (June 24, 2022), rev’d Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 945 F.3d 265, 274 (5th Cir. 2019)). ↩︎