Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Patients and Supporters Gather at State Capitol for “Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives” Speak-out
Contact: Sarah Riddle, [email protected], 919-904-0669
For Immediate Release: March 6, 2018 (Updated: March 6, 2018, 9:21 p.m.)
The speak out featured patients, doctors and experts sharing personal stories and voicing opposition to anti-abortion bills
COLUMBIA, S.C. –– Planned Parenthood South Atlantic hosted a “Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives” speak out today at the South Carolina State Capitol to provide a platform for patient and reproductive health advocates to share their abortion stories and lived experiences in protest of the South Carolina legislature’s repeated attacks on access to reproductive health care.
The speakers included Planned Parenthood patients, doctors, professors, lawmakers, clergy and members of ACLU-SC and WREN.
“We know that the extreme legislation being pushed in bills S. 217 and H. 3548 is out of step with how most South Carolinians think and feel about abortion, and that’s what we showed here today,” said Vicki Ringer, South Carolina Director of Public Affairs. “The brave patients who shared their stories today, along with medical and legal experts, all agree that this extreme legislation is wrong for South Carolina women and families. We stand together to urge lawmakers to vote against these dangerous bills.”
Sarah Ingraham is the Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Field Organizer for Columbia and a former Planned Parenthood patient who shared her story as part of the speak-out.
“As someone who has had an abortion, I would like to tell you all that accessing that healthcare service safe and legally saved my dreams and the life that I had intended for myself. I am now able to live the life I had imagined,” said Ingraham. “The people of South Carolina deserve more than to have their reproductive rights stripped away from them. I was lucky, I had access to the care that I needed and I want every person in South Carolina to have access to the same level of care and compassion that I had.”
The speak-out lasted over an hour with women sharing their stories about their personal experiences with pregnancy, fertility treatments and abortion.
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