South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem did her best to avoid discussing abortion rights during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. When asked about her state’s near-total abortion ban—which classifies abortion as a Class 6 felony unless performed to save the mother’s life—Noem deflected the question back to a discussion on states’ rights.
When Bash pushed her to answer the question, Noem offered up a word salad sandwich, with the real answer stuck right in the middle.
“We rely on South Dakota, on the fact that I’m pro-life and we have a law that says that there is an exception for the life of the mother, and I just don’t believe a tragedy should perpetuate another tragedy,” she said, implying that she does not support abortion in cases of rape and incest.
As for the “exception for the life of the mother” Noem chirps about, lawmakers in South Dakota are trying to create an instructional video to help doctors understand what that means exactly so they don’t receive a prison sentence of up to 2 years, a fine of $4,000, or both.
Noem is on Donald Trump’s short and grotesque list of prospective running mates, though her views on abortion seem to skew from the presidential candidate’s.
Considering that Trump has said he is “strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother,” will Noem be willing to stay quiet about perpetuating tragedy if it secures her spot as Trump’s vice president?
Zachary Mueller is the senior research director for America’s Voice and America’s Voice Education Fund. He brings his expertise on immigration politics to talk about how much money the GOP is using to promote its racist immigration campaigns.
