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Speaking in support of a South Dakota bill that would further criminalize abortion in a state that has only one abortion clinic, Republican state Rep. Steven Haugaard argued on Tuesday that the bill doesn't harm women because half of all aborted fetuses are female. The bill passed the South Dakota House later that day.

"The fact is, half of the abortions include the death of a girl, so it’s certainly not an attack against women," Haugaard said, as reported by Rewire, a news organization covering reproductive rights.

The bill, H.B. 1101, would "increase the penalty for performing an abortion of an unborn child capable of feeling pain." South Dakota is one of 13 states that bans abortion after 20 weeks, though the state's sole abortion provider (a Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls) only provides abortion up to 13 weeks and six days gestation.

Haugaard told the Argus Leader he introduced H.B. 1101 to further prevent doctors from performing abortions after 20 weeks. "I think if physicians understand they're facing a felony in the event they choose to proceed with the abortion when they know the child is pain-capable, they should know that their license is at risk of being taken away," he said. H.B. 1101 would make providing an abortion after 20 weeks a felony punishable by up to two years in state prison, and/or a $4,000 fine.

The bill heads next to the state Senate, which as Rewire points out, holds an overwhelming Republican majority.

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Hannah Smothers Hannah writes about health, sex, and relationships for Cosmopolitan, and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram

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