South Dakota contemplates outlawing nonexistent threat of forced abortions.

The new law-to-be misunderstands the risks posed by surrogacy relationships and is likely to have negative consequences for South Dakota families.

Excerpt - “Of all the famous or disastrous surrogacy cases I’ve written about over the last half-decade, literally none of them have been from South Dakota. That hasn’t stopped the state legislature, however, from being worried about surrogacy issues. South Dakota’s legislature has seen more than its fair share of anti-surrogacy bills over the past few years. While the rest of the country was going the other direction — including New York, which recently passed a new surrogacy-supportive law — last year, South Dakota’s legislature nearly criminalized the family-building option when it considered House Bill 1096, completely banning commercial surrogacy in the Mount Rushmore state. Thankfully, after passing the House General Assembly, that bill died in the State Senate.”

Ellen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, and a regular contributor to the ‘Above the Law’ platform.