“The golden rule of history is that the things that come first rarely last. If we take our faith and our freedoms for granted, we will lose both.” – Dr. Os Guiness
Faith, Freedom, and the Cost of Complacency
Living in a state like South Dakota, it’s not hard to be religious. Most people call themselves Christians, traditional small-town living is common, agriculture is the #1 industry, and compared to most parts of the world, many practice religion with considerable freedom.
But according to the annual scorecard by Religious Liberty in the States (RLS), South Dakota has a lot of work to do to defend the faith and freedoms we’ve likely taken for granted. Out of the 50 states, South Dakota takes home #36, receiving a 35.8% score that reflects the current landscape of free-exercise protections at the state level.
Could South Dakota, while taken to be a Christian and conservative-leaning state, be risking its religious liberty as Dr. Os Guiness earlier cautioned?
Where South Dakota Gets It Right
In the scorecard, South Dakota was recognized for its strong protections for abortion refusal. Robust protections for doctors, healthcare professionals, counselors, and individuals exist when it comes to refusing to participate in abortions.
Similarly, RLS credited South Dakota with robust health insurance mandate exemptions. This means that health insurance providers, both private and public, are heavily restricted and generally outright prohibited from covering abortion procedures.
When churches across the country were told to close doors during Covid, South Dakota passed Senate Bill 124, a strict scrutiny measure which made it unlawful for state and local governments to interfere with religious practices more harshly than similar nonreligious activities.
When legislation tried to change protections for church leaders, South Dakota received scorecard praise for its Clergy-Pentinent Privilege Protections. The state held fast to these protections during the 2026 legislative session, when House Bill 1216 threatened to add faith leaders to the list of mandatory reporters. SD Family Voice advocated against this bill, as it would not only break the Catholic Seal of Confession, but would have greatly interfered with one’s desire to confess to a pastor or spiritual leader, which is often the first true step towards healing and restoration.
Beyond the Freedom to Worship
Over the last five years, RLS has analyzed every state on fifty detailed items. Categories such as government, healthcare, economic life, religious life, and family and education are extensively evaluated, and states are given their ranking based on 50 distinct legal protections that states have adopted to protect religious liberty. These are then averaged to produce one score per state.
In today’s culture, there is an attempt to reduce our freedom of religion into simply the freedom to believe or the freedom to worship. However, the free exercise of religion is much more than that. In America, each of us has the freedom to live out the convictions of our faith in our everyday life without threat of government intervention.
South Dakota’s ranking, while seemingly low, shows there is still work to be done to preserve religious freedom, but the strengths of our state should not be overlooked or discounted. Our vigilance remains key as religion continues to be under attack.
Click Here to read South Dakota’s Scorecard
Click Here to view the National Rankings
Click Here to visit the Religious Liberty in the States (RLS) homepage
