Action Alert: Stop the SC abortion bans
Legislative committees set to meet in August
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to meet sometime during the week of August 15 to vote on H.5399: South Carolina Human Life Protection Act put forward by the Ad Hoc Committee.
The Senate Medical Affairs Committee has tentatively scheduled a meeting to discuss abortion law on August 17, 10 a.m. S.1373 Equal Protection at Conception - No Exceptions – Act, filed by Senator Richard Cash, may be the foundation for discussion.
With the “heartbeat” bill, South Carolina has already gone too far in prohibiting abortion in violation of its citizens' rights to privacy, due process, and religious freedom. Expanding on the existing prohibitions will further erode the rights of South Carolinians. We support S.1348 Reproductive Health Rights Act which would codify our abortion rights.
Email all committee members. Tell them to stop the bans!
When
Now!
How
Email all committee members.
Is your representative a committee member? Call, too, if you can. (Find your legislator's contact info ) We will notify you when/if there is an opportunity for public testimony.
Key legislators
House Judiciary Committee
Chris Murphy, Chair ChrisMurphy@schouse.gov; William H. Bailey WilliamBailey@schouse.gov; Jeff Johnson JeffJohnson@schouse.gov; Justin T. Bamberg JustinBamberg@schouse.gov; Jay Jordan JayJordan@schouse.gov; Beth E. Bernstein BethBernstein@schouse.gov; John Richard King JohnKing@schouse.gov; Bruce M. Bryant BruceBryant@schouse.gov; John McCravy JohnMcCravy@schouse.gov; Micah Caskey MicahCaskey@schouse.gov; Cezar E. McKnight CezarMcKnight@schouse.gov; Neal Collins NealCollins@schouse.gov; Travis Moore TravisMoore@schouse.gov; West Cox WestCox@schouse.gov; Brandon Newton BrandonNewton@scsenate.gov; Sylleste H. David SyllesteDavis@schouse.gov; Wes Newton WestonNewton@schouse.gov; Jason Elliott JasonElliott@schouse.gov; Seth Rose SethRose@schouse.gov; Russell W. Fry RussellFry@schouse.gov; Ivory Torrey Thigpen IvoryThigpen@schouse.gov; Pat Henegan PatriciaHenegan@schouse.gov ; Spencer Wetmore ElizabethWetmore@schouse.gov; Max T. Hyde, Jr. MaxHyde@schouse.gov; Will Wheeler WillWheeler@schouse.gov.
Senate Medical Affairs Committee
Danny Verdin, Chair DannyVerdin@scsenate.gov; Gene Hogan, Public Relations GeneHogan@scsenate.gov; Thomas C. Alexander ThomasAlexander@scsenate.gov; Marlon Kimpson MarlonKimpson@scsenate.gov; Margie Bright Matthews MargieBrightMatthews@scsenate.gov; Dwight A. Loftis DwightLoftis@scsenate.gov; Richard Cash RichardCash@scsenate.gov; Shane R.Martin ShaneMartin@scsenate.gov; Tom Corbin TomCorbin@scsenate.gov; Mia McLeod Mia@scsenate.gov; Michael W. Gambrell MikeGambrell@scsenate.gov; Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. HarveyPeeler@scsenate.gov; Brad Hutto BradHutto@scsenate.gov; John L. Scott, Jr. JohnScott@scsenate.gov; Sandy Senn SandySenn@scsenate.gov.
Talking points
Existing and proposed abortion bans:
Violate explicit protection for privacy rights in our state constitution.
Represent a clear danger to the health of pregnant persons and the practice of medicine in South Carolina.
Impose the religious beliefs of some on all of us. This Is clearly religious establishment, a violation of our national and state constitutions.
Violate rights of free speech and invade the private physician-patient relationship, as proposed in the Senate bill. S.1373 prohibits providing “information [about how to get an abortion] to a pregnant woman, or someone seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, internet, or any other mode of communication.”
Further jeopardize movements for racial and economic equality. Black women and all underserved communities already experience inequitable barriers and limited access to adequate healthcare services. These draconian proposals will worsen our horrific black mortality rate.
South Carolina is not prepared. Our state:
Has not expanded Medicaid or taken other measures to improve our existing inadequate provisions for maternal and child health.
Has made no provision to upgrade Department of Social Services (DSS) services to respond to the increased number of unwanted children who are born.
Has made no provision for the increased needs of severely impaired infants who would be born under the proposed legislation. This includes expansion of palliative care for those who have short survival expectations as well as long-term health, social, and educational services for the severely impaired who survive.
More info
As stated by the very conservative South Carolina Medical Association, existing and proposed legislation endangers the health of pregnant persons and the practice of medicine. “Law enforcement has essentially been invited into the exam room to sit in judgment of this gut-wrenching decision which should be reserved for a physician and a patient and her family.”
Many major denominations teach respect for potential life but do not share religious beliefs that assign full “personhood” to fertilized eggs, embryos, and pre-viability fetuses. They do not support extreme abortion bans and emphasize support for the moral agency and religious freedom of pregnant persons.
In contrast to ideas promoted by those religious denominations promoting abortion bans, science tells us that human reproduction is a continuous cycle and does not assign special moral meaning to any stage, including that of the fertilized egg or implanted fertilized egg. A fertilized egg is simply one stage further beyond an unfertilized ovum or a sperm.
Jewish leaders in Florida have already filed suit against state law and the suit has been joined by Unitarians.
Just since SCOTUS ruled to overturn Roe, Episcopal and Presbyterian USA churches have passed resolutions in opposition to legal bans that interfere with the religious freedom of their members.
Many of the communities targeted with voter suppression are the same communities that will be most impacted if reproductive freedom is also taken away. South Carolina already has a horrific black maternal mortality rate. The existing “heartbeat” bill and the even more draconian proposals now under consideration will make this worse.
Bill details
Action Alert written by and provided with permission of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina