Commentary by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem via RealClear Wire,
In 2022, the pro-life movement experienced a massive victory: For the first time in 50 years, the Supreme Court returned decision-making about abortion back to the states – to the people.
Immediately after, the left and their allies in the media eagerly continued their half-century-long disinformation campaign to confuse the American people about what the ruling actually meant. Democrats lied to the American people that abortion had now been banned entirely, that mothers receiving abortions would be prosecuted, or that back-alley abortions would suddenly become the norm.
None of that is true.
And in this election cycle, Democrats will once again purposefully deceive the American people on this issue. We cannot allow these blatant lies to spread and must talk about life issues with truth, compassion, and hope.
Every pregnancy involves two lives: a mom and an unborn baby. As South Dakota’s largest healthcare provider testified to our state legislature this past February, “We recognize that each time a mother walks through our doors, we’ve been entrusted with the health of two patients: the mother and the child.”
In my state, we showed moms we are here to help them – that they are never alone. We expanded Paid Family Leave access for state employees; provided pregnancy counseling, resources, and tips on parenting; pointed moms and families towards available financial assistance; and even offered help on adopting a child or giving a child up for adoption. We created Bright Start to match first-time moms to available nursing services during pregnancy and up until their child’s second birthday.
There’s more to do, but South Dakota stepped up and protected mothers and their babies with significant policy prescriptions designed to address many concerns. I’m a pro-life governor, and I’m proud of what we’ve done in my state. But what we support in South Dakota may not have support in South Carolina. That’s what the Supreme Court decision actually did – turn those issues back to the people in each state so they can decide.
I realize many in my own party don’t want to talk about this issue. However, the national conversation about abortion will only increase as we approach the November elections. Republicans should not and cannot be afraid to defend our position to protect mothers and their babies, expose lies from the left, and go on offense to expose the radical left’s extreme position on abortion.
The radical left claims “abortion access is being restricted,” but more abortions took place in 2023 after the Supreme Court decision than in the years prior. The left says pro-life laws will lead to higher maternal mortality, but maternal mortality actually dropped by 60% in South Dakota in the first full year after the Court’s ruling. We have to expose that every Democrat in the U.S. Senate voted to allow abortion at any time, for any reason, right up until the moment of birth, and they demanded that you pay for it. Polling by Rasmussen shows a vast majority, 86% of the American people, reject the Democratic Party’s position.
A majority of the people clearly agree with us on this issue and many others facing America.
It’s bad enough that Democrats can’t define what a “woman” is – they also continue to belittle us by portraying women as single-issue voters who only care about abortion. The fact is only 16% of women in Michigan – a key swing state in the upcoming election – are single-issue abortion voters. While abortion will undoubtedly be an issue in the 2024 elections, polls show women care more about how illegal immigration is making them less safe in their communities, how persistent high gas and food prices cause them to struggle to take care of their families, and how America’s decline on the world stage will shape their kids’ future.
Simply put, the America First Conservative policies are proven to be successful – and represent the best hope for a healthy, happy, and prosperous life for Americans who are born and unborn. This is the fight, and if we’re going to win hearts and minds, we can’t be afraid to enter the ring.
