South Dakota’s governor on Wednesday announced she took executive action to ban vaccine passports, or proof of an individual being vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19. Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said the executive order she signed aligns with making sure South Dakotans are able to exercise their freedoms. “Since the start of the COVID pandemic, we have provided the people of South Dakota with up-to-date science, facts, and data and then trusted them to exercise their personal responsibility to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved-ones. We’ve resisted government mandates, and our state is stronger for it,” she said in a statement. “I encourage all South Dakotans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but we are not going to mandate any such activity. And we are not going to restrict South Dakotans’ exercise of their freedoms with un-American policies like vaccine passports. In our state, ‘Under God, …