By Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, special to Statehouse Report | In April of this year, the South Carolina House passed an outrageous 6-week abortion ban (H..3020) which would outlaw abortion before a woman even knows they’re pregnant. As a South Carolina state senator, I watched abortion bans pass in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ohio, and breathed a sigh of relief when the South Carolina General Assembly adjourned without us having to hear this bill in the Senate.
I was sorely mistaken. It turns out, the season for abortion bans isn’t over yet.
In a surprise move by my colleagues, the Senate Medical Affairs committee plans to convene outside of our regular session to fast-track an abortion ban that most of us think is cruel, unnecessary and plain-old government overreach. Like we have seen in other states, there is an explicit and coordinated effort to pass unconstitutional abortion ban bills across state legislatures in order to challenge Roe v. Wade in the now conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court. This is an unprecedented measure.
Support for legal abortion is the highest it has been in the last two decades, and at the same time, a handful of radical state legislators insist on pushing their politically-motivated agendas on us. What my colleagues who are pushing for this ban don’t understand is that these bills don’t stop women from getting abortions. They stop women from getting safe abortions.
Let me be clear about the impact this will have on our state: Women of color, poor women, and women who live in rural areas will be harmed most by passing this bill. Women who have economic means will be able to take time off of work, find and pay for high-quality childcare, access reliable transportation to travel to another state, and pay for lodging (keep in mind some states still have waiting periods). These are the lengths we would be pushing women to in order to legally obtain a safe abortion.
South Carolina women are like women across the country: We want to be able to live a safe and healthy life and be free to define our own path. If my colleagues in the Senate cannot see that, if they insist on using deceptive measures and to bend the rules of legislative protocol and process just to score political points, then they should know that I’m prepared to stand against tough odds and show the world that it’s possible to defeat this abortion ban. And they should know I’m not alone.
As part of the State Innovation Exchange’s Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council (RFLC), I stand with 385 state legislators across 46 states who fight for reproductive freedom, abortion rights and access to health care. I know that when South Carolinians testify against an abortion ban and when I speak out against disgraceful, cruel and restrictive bills, we’re building a movement. I’ve seen my sisters in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio boldly push back against abortion bans and I’ve seen my sisters in Illinois, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont introduce bills that affirm and protect our values of reproductive freedom, that we should all be able to decide if, when, and how we want to be parents. During the deceptively-coordinated subcommittee hearings in my state, my fellow South Carolinians and I will fight against this cruel ban with the support and strength of RFLC colleagues and Americans across the nation.
The season for abortion bans ends here and now in South Carolina.
Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, a member of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, is a Democrat who represents Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
I’m behind you, Margie Bright Matthews! When are your colleagues planning this fast track?