SD Senate committee narrowly defeats commercial surrogacy ban

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota Senate committee has killed a bill that would have criminalized commercial surrogacy agents in the state. It means the Legislature will likely opt against a ban on commercial surrogacy this year. The issue pitted families who had had children through surrogacy against critics of the practice who say it exploits and endangers women. The committee approved a move to kill the bill by one vote. But lawmakers said they want to study the issue and how commercial surrogacy may be regulated in the state. The proposed law would have made acting as a surrogacy agent a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.