SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — After months of litigation a lawsuit against Governor Kristi Noem has been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In January of this year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood brought the lawsuit over a then-proposed abortion medication rule. That rule, which is now law, would have required patients to visit a licensed abortion provider three times to receive the informed consent and medication necessary to end a pregnancy. That’s an added visit to the previously required two visits.
A federal judge issued an injunction in the case in February that Planned Parenthood met its burden in showing that a third visit was medically unnecessary and potentially burdensome to the patient. Governor Kristi Noem and the state appealed that decision.
The case was then put on hold pending the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. In July, the ACLU told KELOLAND News that in light of the Dobbs decision, the ACLU had filed a motion to dismiss the appeal because of a lack of jurisdiction.
That motion was granted Thursday by three Circuit Judges.
