SDLRC - Codified Law 34-23A-1 - Definition of terms.

34-23A-1. Definition of terms.

Terms used in this chapter mean:

(1) "Abortion," the intentional termination of the life of a human being in the uterus;

(1A) "Abortion facility," a place where abortions are performed;

(1B) "Department," the South Dakota Department of Health;

(2) "Fetus," the biological offspring, including the implanted embryo or unborn child, of human parents;

(3) "Fertilization," that point in time when a male human sperm penetrates the zona pellucida of a female human ovum;

(4) "Human being," an individual living member of the species of Homo sapiens, including the unborn human being during the entire embryonic and fetal ages from fertilization to full gestation;

(5) "Medical emergency," any condition which, on the basis of the physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function;

(6) "Parent," one parent or guardian of the pregnant minor or the guardian or conservator of the pregnant woman;

(7) "Physician," a person licensed under the provisions of chapter 36-4 or a physician practicing medicine or osteopathy in the employ of the government of the United States or of this state;

(8) "Probable gestational age of the unborn child," what, in the judgment of the physician, will with reasonable probability be the gestational age of the unborn child at the time the abortion is planned to be performed.

Source: SL 1973, ch 146, § 1; SL 1993, ch 249, § 1; SL 1997, ch 204, § 1; SL 2000, ch 171, § 1; SL 2005, ch 186, § 8; SL 2005, ch 189, § 3; SL 2006, ch 182, § 1; SL 2021, ch 148, § 1.

34-23A-1.1. Attempt to perform abortion defined.

For the purposes of this chapter, an attempt to perform an abortion is an act or omission that, under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be, constitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the performance of an abortion in South Dakota.

Source: SL 1993, ch 249, § 1A.

34-23A-1.3. Legislative findings--Relationship between pregnant woman and unborn child.

The Legislature finds that there is an existing relationship between a pregnant woman and her unborn child during the entire period of gestation.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 2.

34-23A-1.4. Legislative findings--Risks to life and health of pregnant woman.

The Legislature finds that procedures terminating the life of an unborn child impose risks to the life and health of the pregnant woman. The Legislature further finds that a woman seeking to terminate the life of her unborn child may be subject to pressures which can cause an emotional crisis, undue reliance on the advice of others, clouded judgment, and a willingness to violate conscience to avoid those pressures. The Legislature therefore finds that great care should be taken to provide a woman seeking to terminate the life of her unborn child and her own constitutionally protected interest in her relationship with her child with complete and accurate information and adequate time to understand and consider that information in order to make a fully informed and voluntary consent to the termination of either or both.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 3.

34-23A-1.5. Legislative findings--Special protection of rights of pregnant women.

The Legislature finds that pregnant women contemplating the termination of their right to their relationship with their unborn children, including women contemplating such termination by an abortion procedure, are faced with making a profound decision most often under stress and pressures from circumstances and from other persons, and that there exists a need for special protection of the rights of such pregnant women, and that the State of South Dakota has a compelling interest in providing such protection.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 4.

34-23A-1.6. Legislative findings--Standard of practice requiring informed consent.

The Legislature finds that, through the common law, the courts of the State of South Dakota have imposed a standard of practice in the health care profession that, except in exceptional circumstances, requires physicians and other health care practitioners to provide patients with such facts about the nature of any proposed course of treatment, the risks of the proposed course of treatment, the alternatives to the proposed course, including any risks that would be applicable to any alternatives, as a reasonable patient would consider significant to the decision of whether to undergo the proposed course of treatment.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 5.

34-23A-1.7. Common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consent claims based on reasonable patient standard reaffirmed--Application to abortion procedures--Construction.

The South Dakota common law cause of action for medical malpractice informed consent claims based upon the reasonable patient standard is reaffirmed and is hereby expressly declared to apply to all abortion procedures. The duty of a physician to disclose all facts about the nature of the procedure, the risks of the procedure, and the alternatives to the procedure that a reasonable patient would consider significant to her decision of whether to undergo or forego the procedure applies to all abortions. Nothing in § 34-23A-1, §§ 34-23A-1.2 to 34-23A-1.7, inclusive, § 34-23A-10.1, and § 34-23A-10.3 may be construed to render any of the requirements otherwise imposed by common law inapplicable to abortion procedures or diminish the nature or the extent of those requirements. The disclosure requirements expressly set forth in § 34-23A-1, §§ 34-23A-1.2 to 34-23A-1.7, inclusive, § 34-23A-10.1, and § 34-23A-10.3 are an express clarification of, and are in addition to, those common law disclosure requirements.

Source: SL 2005, ch 186, § 6.