South Carolina Senate Advances Near-Total Abortion Ban

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today the South Carolina State Senate advanced House Bill 3774, a bill that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances. H. 3774 has already been approved by the House of Representatives and now moves on to a third and final vote in the Senate. If the Senate passes the bill on the third reading, it will immediately head to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Under H. 3774, a patient who has learned that their baby will not survive childbirth must have the diagnosis confirmed by two doctors before obtaining an abortion, and a survivor of rape or incest can only receive care after their doctor reports the assault to law enforcement in the county where the crime was committed. During today’s debate, Majority Leader Senator Shane Massey said a 10-year-old victim of incest should be forced to deliver a baby, suggesting he'd "love" on the victim instead of allowing her to have an abortion.

“Politicians are attempting to force South Carolinians, including children, to give birth in a state with dangerously high rates of maternal and infant mortality and a shortage of OBGYN doctors — all of which get worse every year,” said Vicki Ringer, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “Rather than pass legislation aimed at increasing access to health care, attracting more health care providers to the state, and combatting our maternal mortality crisis, state lawmakers are once again ramming through a near-total abortion ban that will inevitably lead to more families trapped in poverty and preventable deaths. And if that wasn’t enough, state senators have subverted the legislative process, skipping committee hearings altogether and restricting any opportunity to hear from their constituents. They are playing with real lives, and we urge senators to ultimately reject this abortion ban on the third and final vote.”

According to the latest report from the South Carolina Department of Health an Environmental Control (DHEC), pregnancy-related deaths increased by 9.3 percent in South Carolina between 2018 and 2019, with Black women 67% more likely to die either during childbirth or due to pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts. The state’s infant mortality rate also continues to climb, increasing by 12 percent from 2020 to 2021 overall and by almost 40% since 2017 for infants born to non-Hispanic Black mothers.

According to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, states that have enacted abortion bans this year experienced a 10.5 percent decrease in OBGYN resident applications. Fourteen counties throughout the state do not have an OBGYN.

The harmful consequences of abortion bans extend beyond abortion care. Patients in states where abortion is banned are reportedly receiving substandard care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and even cancer treatment as providers are forced to seek legal advice before providing care and restrictive laws create uncertainty in the health care system.

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