In South Carolina, the state legislature is currently considering a bill that poses an immediate threat to the reproductive rights of millions. The Unborn Child Protection Act is aimed at creating and regulating stricter access to abortions and contraceptives at large.
The bill aims to define stricter limits on reproductive rights language, as well as significantly amend the state code on the issue of abortion. Particularly with emphasis on Section 44-41-615 of the S.C. Code, constituting a felony to administer, prescribe, sell, and or deliver any form of medication, pharmaceutical, or substance that, with “specific intent,” will cause an abortion. People convicted of offending any of the elements of the bill can face imprisonment for up to 30 years for successfully or unsuccessfully administering an abortion.
Additionally, anyone who uses any medical instrument, instruments at large, devices, means, or procedures upon a pregnant person with the intent to perform an abortion. It would also make it illegal to know of or knowingly distribute, sell, possess, and advertise what this state legislature refers to as “abortifacient” (mifepristone, misoprostol, or any other chemical drug that is used with the intent of causing an abortion). With that as well, when it comes to having access to abortion care, or knowing that information will be used with the intent of having an abortion, is considered aiding and abetting in the criminal offense, and thus now makes others subject to liability, which can include family, friends, doctors, etc.
This bill moves beyond restricting access for those who are pregnant to criminalizing anyone who works, helps, or supplies any abortion care. Additionally, with these radical shifts and these stipulations, the state would have the strictest abortion ban in the country.
By adding new language to the existing state code, this bill is not just a legal document; it is a direct threat to the rights and choices of individuals. It actively removes the exceptions for being able to have an abortion, particularly in instances of rape, incest, and fetal anomaly. The language in the revised bill, which is still pending in the state senate, actively removes any provisions to account for these circumstances. Instead, this bill works to criminalize choice, affecting the lives of many individuals.
In addition to amending the language for abortion in the code, this bill also aims to redefine access to contraceptives. The revision states that so long as a contraceptive is not used to cause or induce an abortion, but in so many cases, this language does not clearly set out the language for Plan B and other emergency contraceptives, and other contraceptives such as birth control, primarily as they affect unwanted conception. Yet still, there has been extensive language on the many ways that persons will be prosecuted if they participate in “abortion related” activities, such as helping a young person go to another state to have an abortion.
Yet, importantly, this issue is not only a decision happening for Pro-choice persons or groups. In South Carolina, a pro-life group, South Carolina Citizens For Life, has also spoken up against the bill, arguing that ‘Pro-lifers understand better than anyone else the desire to punish the purveyors of abortion who act callously and without regard to the dignity of human life. But turning women who have abortions into criminals, as S323 does, is not the way.’ This bipartisan concern powerfully underscores how much this bill could create significant damage in the State.
When one person loses the right to make decisions about their own body, it impacts us all. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, restrictions on reproductive healthcare have multiplied across the country, leaving millions without access to essential care. While anti-abortion extremists continue to promote policies and narratives that restrict access to reproductive healthcare, it becomes our duty to stand up for our rights. It becomes our mission to create a world where everybody, regardless of their choice, is free to live and not criminalized. It is our right to fight for a more just future.
