The Quickie: South Carolina House Passes Near-Total Abortion Ban

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: SC house passes near-total abortion ban, anti-trans movement plays copycat with the anti-abortion movement, anti-abortion state lawmakers increasingly target doctors, Iowans share traumatic experiences with anti-abortion centers, and our weekly state fights round up. 

As a note, the Quickie will not be distributed on Monday, February 20th, but we will resume our normal scheduling on the 21st. 

SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE PASSES NEAR-TOTAL ABORTION BAN: Yesterday the South Carolina House of Representatives passed a near-total abortion ban (H.B. 3774), less than a week after the Senate passed a six-week ban nearly identical to the one struck down by the South Carolina Supreme Court just last month. The House bill outlaws abortion except in a few restrictive situations: Under the bill, a patient who has learned their baby will not survive childbirth must have the diagnosis confirmed by two doctors, 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 occurred.

“I am horrified that House lawmakers have opted to double down on their radical anti-abortion agenda, worsening South Carolina’s public health crisis by passing a ban even more restrictive than the one our state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional just weeks ago,” said Vicki Ringer, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “Fourteen counties throughout the state do not have an OBGYN, Black women are dying at four times the rate of white women, and we are ranked in the bottom 10 states in the country for children living in poverty. Instead of taking action to improve South Carolinians’ lives, abortion-obsessed lawmakers are spending their time trying to undermine our rights and control our bodies.”

Read more from The State and AP. 

ANT-TRANS POLITICIANS TAKE A PAGE OUT OF THE ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT PLAYBOOK: Yesterday, Roll Call highlighted the similarities in strategy between the anti-trans movement and the anti-abortion movement. As anti-abortion politicians continue to ramp up attacks on our reproductive freedoms since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, these same politicians have also taken aim at gender-affirming care.

As Roll Call noted, just like the anti-abortion movement began with attacking young people’s right to an abortion at the state level, the anti-trans movement is beginning their attacks with attempting to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth.Restricting this care can have severe consequences for young people’s mental health and even increase the risk of suicide. Abortion rights and trans rights are inextricably linked: attacks against either are blatant attempts to limit people’s access to often life-saving health care and their control over their own lives and bodies. 

Read more at Roll Call. 

ANTI-ABORTION STATE POLITICIANS INCREASINGLY TARGET DOCTORS WITH CRIMINALIZATION: Over 300 abortion-related bills have been proposed since state legislative sessions have started this year, and at least three dozen of them propose penalties for medical professionals who provide abortion care, according to the New York Times. Bans have already eliminated all or some abortion in 18 states across the country, and now anti-abortion politicians have increasingly turned their attention to penalizing providers as a way to further restrict access and chill the provision of abortion care. Some proposed bills, like in Nebraska and Utah, threaten to revoke professional licenses for providing care; other even more draconian proposals in states like Wyoming and Iowa subject physicians to criminal penalties that carry harsh punishments including years in prison.   

“I do not need you to believe abortion is OK — what I need from you all is to allow me to be a doctor,” said Dr. Abigail Delaney, a reproductive endocrinologist, at a hearing on Nebraska’s proposed abortion ban. “I need you to get out of our exam room. I need you to allow me to shoulder the ethical burdens of the profession I chose.”

On the other hand, proactive bills that aim to protect abortion providers have been introduced in states like Hawaii and New Hampshire. Earlier this session, Minnesota and Illinois also passed laws to protect medical professionals who provide abortion care, including from the threat of subpoenas from states where abortion is banned. 

Read more at the New York Times. 

IOWANS SHARE THEIR TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES AT ANTI-ABORTION CENTERS: This week, Iowans shared stories of their negative experiences at anti-abortion centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers, in the state. Anti-abortion centers falsely advertise themselves to pregnant people as medical facilities with trained health care professionals. But the reality is that these centers are staffed by anti-abortion zealots who provide inaccurate, often dangerous medical advice to pregnant people.  

Ray Garbers shared his story of having an ultrasound done at an anti-abortion center. Staffers could not identify the pregnancy and sent Ray home just with a one-sided sheet for miscarriage precautions. Just two days later, Ray suffered from an almost fatal incident with what turned out to be an ectopic pregnancy. The anti-abortion center declined to take any responsibility for the purported care they offered him. 

Elizabeth Feldman used to volunteer at an anti-abortion center and recounted her experience: “The so-called crisis pregnancy center used deceit and shame to manipulate vulnerable people looking for health care… Staff would threaten their privacy by saying they would call family members or partners to make them aware of the person’s pregnancy and that they were considering abortion.”

Iowa approved $500,000 last year in taxpayer money for anti-abortion centers despite them being dangers to public health, according to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. This session, they’re trying to quadruple that number, passing a bill that would allot $2,000,000 for these centers through a Senate subcommittee just this week.

“For now, abortion remains safe and legal in Iowa, but it is hanging by a thread,” said Mazie Stilwell, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “Politicians in power are working hard to take away our rights, health care, and power over our bodies and futures. And then they want to peddle anti-abortion centers as a solution.”

Read more at Iowa Starting Line. 

STATE FIGHTS ROUND UP: Both proactive and defensive abortion-related bills continued to advance this week. 

Proactive efforts:

• Two pro-abortion rights bills are advancing in Hawaii. This week the Commerce & Consumer Protection and Health & Human Services committees passed legislation to help protect providers against the threat of aggressive out-of-state litigation and expand physician assistants’ ability to provide abortion care. A bill to help improve access to abortion care in underserved communities through travel and telehealth technology investments also passed second reading and was referred to the House Finance committee.
• The Vermont Senate Committee on Health & Welfare held several days of hearings this week on S. 37, which aims to shield providers of legally-protected reproductive health care services (including abortion, contraception, and assisted reproduction) and gender-affirming care from harassing lawsuits brought by out-of-state actors. The measure would also prohibit malpractice insurers from discriminating against providers of such care. In addition,  the measure would create new insurance coverage requirements for abortion and gender-affirming care, including eliminating cost sharing. S. 37 will likely be voted out of committee by next week. Its House counterpart, H. 89, has already passed its chamber and been sent to the Senate. 
• A proactive bill to codify an Executive Order issued by Gov. Sisolak last June to protect abortion access in Nevada will be heard in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee next Monday.
• Tomorrow, the Alaska House Health & Social Services committee will hold a hearing on H.B.17, legislation to expand contraceptive access in the state. 
• On Wednesday, the Connecticut Joint Committee on Human Services held a hearing on HB 6616, which would expand state Medicaid and CHIP coverage to all eligible people regardless of immigration status.
• New Hampshire legislators held public hearings on numerous abortion-related bills, including a state constitutional amendment to protect reproductive liberty (CACR 2) and a bill to repeal the state’s abortion ban (HB 271). Lawmakers also heard testimony on anti-abortion bills that would ban abortion at approximately six weeks of pregnancy (HB 591), force patients to wait 24 hours before their abortion (HB 562), and criminalize health care providers offering end-of-life care for neonates (HB  346).
• A bill to repeal a host of abortion restrictions and codify the state Supreme court decision that protects abortion access was heard in the Montana House Judiciary Committee this week.

Defensive efforts: 

• Yesterday, the South Carolina House passed HB3774, which outlaws abortion except in a few restrictive situations. Last week, the Senate passed SB474, a bill to ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy — nearly identical to the law struck down by the state Supreme Court just last month — again leaving the legislature divided over how far to restrict essential health care.
• Yesterday, the Utah House Judiciary Committee passed HB567, legislation that could shut down abortion health centers in the state by prohibiting abortion clinics from operating after, at latest, May 2024, and imposing additional restrictions on providers. It would also add further limitations to the exceptions in the state’s current abortion bans. This bill is currently on its second reading on the House floor. And on Tuesday, the House passed HJR2 which changes civil procedure rules to curtail the emergency power of the state courts, effective immediately. The resolution had already passed the Senate. Going forward, the rule changes will prevent litigants from securing a preliminary injunction unless they can demonstrate the case has a substantial likelihood of success, and it could also be used to undermine the current injunction blocking Utah’s abortion ban. 
• Next week, the Health and Human Services committee in Nebraska will vote on a six-week abortion ban. More than 200 people showed up to testify against the bill at the seven-hour hearing earlier this month. The bill could receive a final vote on the Senate floor the week of February 27th. If passed, it would go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature. 
• Several harmful bills were introduced in Montana this week, including legislation to make it harder for Medicaid recipients to get coverage for abortion care and a constitutional referendum personhood amendment. 
• Anti-abortion politicians in Kentucky have filed HB300, an extreme bill that would criminalize pregnant people for seeking abortion care, as well as an anti-abortion constitutional amendment similar to the one already voted down by Kentuckians this past November.
• Yesterday, Virginia’s Senate Education and Health Committee defeated a so-called “born alive” bill and a bill to reinstate mandatory biased counseling for abortion patients in the state. This committee has rejected every single anti-abortion bill before it this session, including several proposed abortion bans last month.
• Arizona’s Senate Health Committee approved an anti-abortion informed consent bill that would require health care professionals to provide biased, inaccurate information about the assistance and benefits that may be available to a pregnant person.
• On Wednesday, anti-abortion politicians reintroduced a measure to make it harder to run and win a ballot initiative in Ohio. In addition to raising the vote threshold to pass an amendment to 60%, HJR6 will also require constitutional amendments to gather signatures in all 88 counties and eliminate the signature cure period. If the legislature approves the measure, it would go to voters in November.
• The Iowa Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee advanced an omnibus bill that funnels $2 million in taxpayer money to fund anti-abortion centers. Before the hearing, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa held a virtual press conference where former patients of anti-abortion centers spoke out against the bill and told their stories. It will now go to the full committee for a vote. 

Attacks on trans people and bans on gender-affirming care also continue to advance in states across the country:

• South Dakota Gov. Noem signed a youth gender-affirming care ban into law on Monday. The bill will take effect July 1st and impact youth below the age of 18.
• The Idaho House also passed a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth this week. The bill bans puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and gender affirmation surgery. If this bill becomes law, doctors, pharmacists, and any provider who assists youth in obtaining gender-affirming prescriptions or care could be charged with a felony and up to 10 years in jail. It now awaits a committee assignment in the Senate.
• Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Senate passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, with criminal and licensure penalties for providers and a civil cause of action for people who received such care while under the age of 18. Just one week into session, Oklahoma lawmakers have already proposed at least 15 bills seeking to bar transgender people from accessing this life-saving, medically necessary care. Yesterday, a House committee also heard a gender-affirming care ban.
• Yesterday, gender-affirming care bans for minors were also passed out of the Missouri Emerging Issues committee and heard in the Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare committee.
• The Kentucky Senate approved SB150, an anti-transgender education bill. It now moves to the House.