S.1 Action Alert oppose "Fetal Heartbeat" abortion bill ASAP!

S.1 Action Alert oppose "Fetal Heartbeat" abortion bill ASAP!

Action Alert
Time Range For Action Alert: 
January 10, 2021 to March 2, 2021

Please call or email your S.C. senator immediately to express your opposition to S. 1, the “Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act.”   A subcommittee of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee will consider Bill S.1 on Thursday, January 14.

The League of Women Voters of South Carolina strongly opposes this bill, which would effectively prohibit abortions in South Carolina should Roe v. Wade be overturned at the federal level. 
Please contact your SC senator promptly.  See Talking Points below.

A friendly office assistant will answer. Identify yourself as a constituent of the senator and provide your personal perspective on the bill. Do not use email unless you put CONSTITUENT in the subject line.  Many legislators do not open their emails.  It is more effective to call. 

IF YOU ALSO WISH TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY, ADDRESS THE SUBCOMMITTEE, OR ATTEND/STREAM THE HEARING, see information in the next section, below the dotted blue line.

S.1 Fetal Heartbeat Action Alert Talking Points

S.1 bill is contrary to the LWVUS position on abortion: “The League of Women Voters believes public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.” 

S.1 is also contrary to the wishes of the people of South Carolina. A 2019 Winthrop Poll showed that 73% of South Carolinians support substantially greater rights to terminate pregnancies than this bill provides. In addition, many religious groups, even those that regard abortion as a very serious moral choice, do not support the draconian legal restraints provided in this bill.

The bill would do the following:

  • Prohibit all abortions after detection of a “fetal heartbeat.” (The word "heartbeat" is actually misleading. At the stage described in the bill, usually around six weeks, there is no human heart, and therefore no human heartbeat.)
  • Provide exceptions only for “medical emergencies.” (In previous attempts to pass similar bills, medical experts have testified that by the time a medical emergency is well documented it would often be difficult or impossible to avoid serious harm or death to the pregnant woman.)
  • Violate the constitutional rights of pregnant persons as defined in Roe v. Wade. (The bill contains a contingency provision that it would take effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.)
  • Impose the requirements of a specific religious point of view on the public, despite disclaimers from supporters that their position is grounded only in scientific information. 
  • Single out pregnant persons to require that they give up their right to bodily autonomy, something that medical ethicists argue is not required of others who could save lives with blood donation or organ donation. (For a discussion of this issue, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5088084/) 

Full text of the bill may be found here,
 

DO YOU ALSO WISH TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY OR ADDRESS THE SUBCOMMITTEE?  Do you want to attend or stream it?

The subcommittee will meet on Thursday, January 14, at 10:00 in the Gressette Building in Columbia, Room 105, (Overflow seating is tentatively scheduled in Room 207; the meeting will be streamed online.  If necessary, the subcommittee will reconvene after the Senate’s adjournment. A link for streaming the meeting should be available at www.scstatehouse.gov under the Senate schedule for Thursday.)
 

The League has submitted written testimony to the subcommittee. Those who also wish to submit personal written or oral testimony to the subcommittee must act promptly.  Electronic or written correspondence must be received, and registration to speak must be completed, by Tuesday, January 12, 9 AM. 

READ THE FOLLOWING and then open the REGISTRATION FORM here.

  • Registration for speaking to the committee must state your preference of in-person or virtual testimony.  If you choose the latter, be sure to include an e-mail address so that a link to join the meeting virtually can be sent to you.
  • Be prepared to limit your comments to three minutes. 
  • The meeting room will have limited occupancy (around 30) due to pandemic conditions; please note that an overflow room (tentatively Gressette 207) will be available.
  • In addition to speaking, written comments are also welcome from speakers and non-speakers alike.  A three-minute video addressing the subject will also be accepted in lieu of in-person or virtual testimony.   
  • Please send e-mails/attachments to smedicomm [at] scsenate.gov () (note "Bill S.1" in the subject line).
  • Written correspondence should be sent to:

            SC Senate Medical Affairs Committee
            Attention:  Research Director
            PO Box 142, 412 Gressette Building
            Columbia, SC 29202