ACLJ Representing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem vs. Planned Parenthood

There are three cases right now that could deliver a defeat to Planned Parenthood once and for all. In one of the biggest abortion cases in decades, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade. Next, Texas just passed an abortion law that prevents abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy, or when a heartbeat has been detected. Planned Parenthood and the Department of Justice have tried to block this in court, but they were rejected. The law is still being enforced in Texas.

The pro-life movement is gaining significant momentum across the country.

And now, thanks to your support, the ACLJ is going to be representing Governor Kristi Noem and the State of South Dakota in their battle against Planned Parenthood. Gov. Noem is trying to uphold a state law that requires counseling to be provided for women seeking abortion from a third-party pregnancy center in order to ensure the pregnant woman is truly informed on the abortion procedure before receiving one.

To be clear, the South Dakota law is not denying abortions. They are simply asking for a third party to give women more information about the procedure beforehand in order to let them make an informed choice. Why would Planned Parenthood be against that?

ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil joined Sekulow to give her take:

These are just commonsense protections, and they are constitutional. Like you said, in South Dakota it is absolutely an informed consent bill, yet Planned Parenthood is going to go after that. It is informed consent. Someone who is going to have a medical procedure needs to know what they are getting into. Once again, Planned Parenthood comes against that. So, every single time you have any kind of bill that protects life, you can expect Planned Parenthood is going to challenge it.

ACLJ Chief Counsel and my dad, Jay Sekulow, explained why this South Dakota law is important:

It is an honor for the ACLJ to be representing a critically important case – a commonsense case that protects the well-being of the mother and the unborn child. Ultimately, that woman can still decide to have an abortion. There is nothing in it that prevents abortion. The bill just simply says, look, if you are about to have an abortion, getting informed consent information from Planned Parenthood is not enough because they are in that business. We want you to go to a third party – unrelated, licensed – and talk with them. It is not a faith-based thing. It is just going to talk to someone about the consequences of abortion, the risks of abortions, and the options for abortions. That's common sense on a medical procedure like this. This is the only medical procedure where a life is taken. . . . The abortion procedure itself is unique among any medical procedure. The states are starting to get creative on how to deal with this.

ACLJ Director of Policy Harry Hutchison explained the policy standpoint of these states by using commonsense approaches on how to deal with abortion:

There are commonsense approaches. That is precisely what Planned Parenthood opposes. They oppose the Texas law – why? Because it is very, very unique. It allows citizens to bring a cause of action to protect human life. And what is Planned Parenthood all about? It is about actually shrinking human life throughout the world. . . . If you look at Planned Parenthood v. Casey . . . What did the Supreme Court at its core decide? It decided that it was going to elevate or reify radical human autonomy. This is what Planned Parenthood is all about. They want to reify and elevate moral Darwinism that supports eugenics which then supports the shrinkage of human life.

We are not going to let Planned Parenthood continue to put their profits before the health of women and children. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow expressed his gratitude to be a part of this battle:

On behalf of the ACLJ, I am honored to represent Governor Noem and the good people of South Dakota. This commonsense legislation protects mothers and the unborn children.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the ACLJ representing South Dakota in an abortion law.

Watch the full broadcast below.