Republican Gov. Kristi Noem said Sunday her bill making its way through South Dakota’s legislature aimed at protecting fairness in women’s sports will be the “strongest bill in the nation” of its kind.
“This is about fairness,” Noem said on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is about making sure that our girls have a chance to be successful and to compete, to win scholarships, potentially go on to play professional sports beyond that. We want them to have the opportunity to do that.
Noem also defended her new proposed bill to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, or around six weeks, which includes a provision that would punish people who aid someone in getting an abortion with a minimum $10,000 penalty.
“The South Dakota law is different,” she said. “It is modeled after the Texas law, and it says when that heartbeat is detected, that then abortion is not an option. And frankly, since we got to the Texas law in place, lives have been saved. In South Dakota, there’s a private right of action clause that is different than the Texas model. But we think that really gives people the option to really not insert the state into that relationship, but make sure that people have the opportunity to go after those doctors that do perform abortions, and save those lives so that we can continue to be bold in doing that.”
Fox News’ Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jessica Chasmar is an editor on the politics team for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Jessica.Chasmar@fox.com.
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