PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota Senate committee has narrowly rejected a measure that would have criminalized commercial surrogacy pregnancy agents.
The Senate Health and Human Services voted down the bill 4-3 Wednesday, after a debate pitting some families who have used surrogates for pregnancy against critics who argue the practice exploits and endangers women and babies.
The proposal would have made acting as a surrogacy agent a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
It would have made South Dakota one of a handful of states to criminalize the practice. The measure had earlier passed in the House.
