South Dakota's Kristi Noem: Only Doctors Who Commit Abortions will Face Prosecution, Not Mothers

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has had a goal to be the most pro-life governor of any state. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade, she was working to make her state a place where life is celebrated. 

After the high court opened the door for states to protect the lives of unborn babies, Noem praised the historic ruling during an interview on CBN's "The Prayerlink."

"I think that this is the decision that so many people have prayed for for so many years," Noem told CBN News. "It's wonderful to see and what this will do is return this decision and policy back to the states. Many, many years ago the court made the wrong decision. This is rectifying that and allowing states to stand for what their values and beliefs really are."  

Noem went on to explain about the abortion trigger law in her state that took effect after the Supreme Court's decision.

"In South Dakota we had a trigger law in place that our state statute said that abortion would be outlawed in our state as soon as this decision was made, except to save the life of the mother. So currently in South Dakota today, that's where we are, and we're just so grateful that every life is precious and it's being recognized in this country," she said.

Noem also explained that doctors who perform abortions in South Dakota will now be prosecuted.

"I think a lot of people are worried about how this treats women and mothers," she explained. "And I wanted to be very clear that in South Dakota our law states that it will never be mothers that are prosecuted for getting an abortion. It will be the doctors who knowingly break the law and perform abortions in the state of South Dakota. So yes, that's where the punishment would lie, and I think it's good to be very clear on this." 

"We can now as a pro-life community turn to supporting women and mothers through this by connecting them with different resources – they may need to get health care, financial assistance, connecting them to adoptive families who may want to make an opportunity for them to raise a baby that was unplanned for someone that's in a very different situation."

Gov. Noem further highlighted how South Dakota is working to help support pregnant women.

"That's something I focused on, put out a website that I launched called Life.SD.gov and it is putting all those resources in one location so that women that are in a situation where they have an unplanned pregnancy really can understand the kind of support they have around them," said Noem. 

Noem also shared about her new book, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland  In it she shares about her faith and how it helped her through the tragic loss of her father who was killed in an accident on their family farm.

"For us and our family, it was about our faith and understanding that we had God by our side and walking with us and would see us through those challenging times, but also having our family around us as well."

Meanwhile, Gov. Noem recently announced another run for governor of her state, but some are hopeful she will consider a run for President or Vice President. To that she responded, "I'm very focused on staying in South Dakota. I'm hoping the people there will support me to lead the state for another four years."

"I love this country. I'll always do all I can to protect it and keep it as wonderful as a country as I've had a chance to grow up in, especially for my kids and my granddaughter. But I'm definitely hoping that whatever comes for our country that it has God's blessing and hand on it," said Noem.