2021-22 Human Rights & Human Services Advocacy

2021-22 Human Rights & Human Services Advocacy

2021-22 Legislative Advocacy

The League remains focused most intensively on its Making Democracy Work (MDW) campaign: voting and elections, redistricting, and opposition to constitutional convention resolutions. The League, as always, will attempt to advocate on all bills falling within our areas of interest as defined in state and national policies. Follow our latest Making Democracy Work (MDW) Network Updates to organizations that share our interests. 

Reference: LWVSC Human Rights & Human Services Positions/Issues

LWVSC 2021-22 Bills of Interest

PDF icon LWVSC Bills of Interest 2021-2022 v.2.13.2022

Some issues of interest include the following: 

Freedom to Read: Public Libraries, Schools 

On October 27, 2022, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina joined “Freedom to Read SC,” a statewide coalition of advocates and community leaders that will work to defeat unconstitutional efforts to ban books from school and public libraries. Read more about the coalition and access resources. 

 

Women’s Reproductive Health 

Efforts continue to outlaw abortions in South Carolina, an affront to the bodily autonomy and right to privacy and self-determination of South Carolina’s women. 
 

H.5399 as approved by the House, forwarded to the Senate

The League is not asking for additional exceptions to be written into H.5399. Decisions around abortion are the moral right of those who are pregnant and are too complex for a limited array of legislated guidelines and exceptions. Most doctors and theologians from many religious groups agree with us. We are asking for a law codifying the protections associated with Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the moral agency of those who are pregnant up until viability while providing legal protection to a viable fetus after that, with appropriate exceptions. This is consistent with the beliefs of the majority of Americans, which should be the foundation of our laws. Imposing the religious beliefs of some on all, as these bills do, is religious establishment, prohibited by federal and state Constitutions.

 
 
H.5399 Human Life Protection Act 
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina opposes H.5399, a government mandate that would force birth on those unwilling to carry a pregnancy to term. This would deprive many citizens of religious freedom, due process, privacy, and basic moral agency in a decision that is personally, medically, spiritually, and economically complex.
 
The League rejects the entire enterprise on which this committee has embarked and which the General Assembly endorsed in an earlier form in the “heartbeat” bill that is now in place. These bans are not just violations of our individual rights, but cruel. 
 
S.1327, S.1373, S.1348 Abortion Legislation 
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina rejects S.1327 and S.1372. We support, instead, codification of the rights embodied in the Roe decision, as in S.1348. 
 
No additional abortion restrictions should be enacted in South Carolina law. Instead, the “heartbeat” ban should be repealed, new bans should be rejected, and South Carolina’s laws should offer the protections that Roe v. Wade gave to our nation’s women before the recent SCOTUS decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
 
The Dobbs decision was grounded not in the rule of law but in extremist sectarian theology and nostalgia for a past that was brutal for many in our nation. South Carolina should not build upon that immoral and cruel foundation to exert authoritarian control over the lives of half of its people.
 
S. 988, the Abortion "Trigger Law," bans all abortions, unless the death of the pregnant person is imminent, and declares a fertilized egg to be a person. This bill includes no exceptions for rape or incest. LWVSC opposes this bill as a violation of our right to privacy and of our freedom of religion. 
 
S. 1 "Fetal Heartbeat" Abortion: The League has provided testimony to the Senate subcommittee of the Medical Affairs Committee that is hearing this bill.  
 
H.3225 Perinatal Care is another bill that would affect women’s reproductive health, but positively. This bill attempts to address the well-documented problem of racial bias affecting perinatal medical care for persons of color, leading to appallingly high levels of maternal and infant death. In our testimony, the League recommends amendments to strengthen the bill. 

 

Health Care 

The League of Women Voters of South Carolina opposes H. 4776, which would permit anyone working for a health care facility to refuse any type of service to any patient on religious, ethical, moral, or philosophical grounds. The bill would further prevent hospitals and other health care facilities from changes in personnel responsibilities to try to accommodate refusals while protecting their patients. 2/23/2022 House Testimony H.4776 Health Care Refusals

 

Education

H. 3591 Improve Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs
The League supports accountability for teacher preparation programs.  
 

H. 4325, H. 4343, H. 4392, H. 4605, H. 4799: Prohibited Civics Content, Methods
The League believes that the responsibility to determine educational policy and goals as a basis for the selection and evaluation of content and methods belongs to state and local school boards. Bills like these will have unintended consequences. 

Such laws would encourage angry, fearful parents to bypass local approaches to problem-solving and complain directly to legislators. If there are staff who lack the training to handle difficult topics skillfully, they should be reported immediately to the supervising administrators. These bills broadcast negative messages about the quality of public education. Prospective teachers are right to question whether public schools are a place where their skills and talents will be respected by the public and its elected representatives. 
 
H. 4879 Education Scholarship Accounts: Regarding accountability measures, using the standardized criterion-referenced achievement tests that are administered to students taking the same coursework in public schools is appropriate and commendable. A "national achievement test" is not an acceptable alternative. The League of Women Voters of South Carolina supports more choices for students with a strong and accountable public school system; however, we oppose the current H.4879 plan. 
 
S. 935 Education Scholarship Accounts: The League of Women Voters of South Carolina opposes efforts to divert state money to private schools, although we do support providing parents and students with expanded choices within the public school system. The accountability provisions in S.935 are extraordinarily weak. We oppose the S.935 plan to create Education Scholarship Accounts managed under contract by a private entity without meaningful public accountability. 
  
H. 3445 Gubernatorial Appointment of the State Superintendent of Education: Education issues have long been of crucial importance for the League, as they are for the State of South Carolina. In 2021 we have offered testimony in the House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee on H.3445, a resolution to propose amending the Constitution of 1895 to provide for the gubernatorial appointment of the Secretary of Education. We support this resolution, with an amendment to ensure that a well-qualified individual is appointed. 
 
H .3002 Civics: The League has testified against efforts to mandate a disruptive and poorly designed civics curriculum through H. 3002.

 

Open Carry of Handguns 

The national League supports legislation to control violence and opposes legislation that would deregulate handguns.  

 

Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform

The League supports reforms to make our criminal justice system more effective in addressing crimes motivated by hate and also to ensure the just and equitable treatment of all citizens by all elements of the justice system. We identified 36 relevant bills in December 2020 pre-filing alone.

H. 3620 emerged as the hate crimes bill that has been heard in subcommittee. 
The Senate has taken up both H. 3620 assent to it by the House and its own bill, S. 14.