HB1223 would authorize the informed consent by a pregnant minor for any medical or dental procedure or service related to the minor’s prenatal care, the delivery process, or postnatal care if the minor’s parent or guardian is either “unavailable or withholds consent.”
The Senate passed HB1223 on March 2, 2022, by a vote of 30 to 5. We have assigned pluses to the nays because parents have the fundamental right to custody and control of their minor children, including healthcare decisions. Parental rights, as with all other constitutional rights, are protected by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment. Further, HB1223 does not recognize that South Dakota law already provides for limited exceptions in which physicians and/or the state can intercede and act in the best interests of a minor child.