The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of House Bill 1113, a bill to criminalize threatening a pregnant mother with murder, assault, or kidnapping in order to coerce an abortion. This bill is similar to a prior HB 1193, which the SDCC supported in 2019, which criminalized such a threat that resulted in an abortion. The current bill, HB 1113, introduces serious criminal penalty for such threats even in those cases that do not ultimately result in an abortion of an unborn child. HB 1113 would codify greater protections for mothers, and would increase legal protections for children in the womb.
Categories: 2022 Session