Near-Total Abortion Ban Fails S.C. Senate
For Immediate Release: April 27, 2023
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After a two-day filibuster led by the five women in the S.C. State Senate, today Senators failed to pass House Bill 3774, a bill that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances. The bill will instead be carried over to next year’s legislative session which begins in January.
Senate Bill 474, a bill that bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, previously passed the Senate. The House may decide to take up the six-week ban this year, although no committee meetings have been scheduled at this time.
“The government should never force a person to carry a pregnancy or give birth against their will, but this male-dominated legislature is hellbent on controlling the decisions of women,” said Vicki Ringer, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “A person’s health, not politicians, should guide important medical decisions at all stages of pregnancy. We urge House lawmakers to focus on policies that will actually help South Carolinians live and thrive in their communities rather than try yet again to ban abortion in the state.”
According to the latest report from the South Carolina Department of Health and 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.