pregnant women
South Dakota has a women’s health care shortage. The abortion ban may worsen it, physicians say.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third story in a three-part series about the impacts of South Dakota’s abortion ban. The first story examined the number of South Dakotans leaving the state for abortions, and the second story analyzed the state’s “life of the mother” exception. Avery Olson has a choice to make. She could practice […]
‘Treated like a criminal’: Native woman’s death sparks questions
In May of 2021, Abbey Lynn Steele gave birth to her first child, a baby boy. A urine test showed methamphetamine in his system. Steele, who turned 19 that month, also tested positive for meth. The drug’s detection in the baby’s urine assured that Steele would not keep full custody under South Dakota law. Its […]
Advocates: South Dakota has ‘counterproductive’ approach to drug use by mothers
Abbey Steele found herself facing a felony drug ingestion charge in 2021, based on a urine test collected after she gave birth to her first child. Steele was among two dozen mothers whose maternity ward drug test sparked a call to the Rapid City Police Department in 2021. The RCPD has collected the metric since […]