Abolitionists Go on Offense in South Carolina
South Carolina passed new Pro-Life regulations in recent years, and yet preborn babies continue to be murdered by the thousands. But a grassroots coalition of Christian abolitionists are advancing efforts to abolish abortion once and for all in the Palmetto State.
There were significant strides made toward that objective this week as an equal protection bill was introduced for the very first time in the South Carolina Senate, while an equal protection bill was heard for the first time in the South Carolina House.
The Foundation to Abolish Abortion was honored to partner with our brothers and sisters in South Carolina as they advanced the cause of abolishing abortion in their state.
Bright Introduces First Equal Protection Senate Bill in South Carolina
South Carolina State Senator Lee Bright introduced S. 783, entitled the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act, during a Tuesday press conference at the South Carolina State House.
The press conference, which was hosted by Equal Protection South Carolina, attracted substantial media attention from both state and national news outlets. In attendance alongside Bright were several other lawmakers, as well as Equal Protection South Carolina President Mark Corral, Foundation to Abolish Abortion legislative liaison John Rice-Cameron, national anti-abortion leader Abby Johnson, and United States Senate candidate Mark Lynch.
“These children deserve equal protection. I will be filing a bill of equal protection today,” Bright told a large crowd of reporters attending the press conference. “I know we’ve got hearts and minds to change. God’s in the hearts and minds changing business.”
Corral asserted that nobody in the state “should have the legal right to kill an unborn child, including the child’s own father and mother,” observing that such a stance “is no longer a marginal position among voters.” Johnson warned that candidates who refuse to support the legislation “will be publicly shamed” and placed “at threat of losing your office,” also exposing Pro-Life establishment group South Carolina Citizens for Life in their opposition to abolition.
Equal Protection South Carolina volunteers are currently advocating for S. 783 to receive a hearing, applying the political pressure necessary to ensure members of the South Carolina Senate know that the conservative and Christian grassroots support abolition.
Harris Presents Equal Protection Bill to South Carolina House Subcommittee
South Carolina State Representative Rob Harris meanwhile presented H. 3537, also called the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act, on Wednesday during a hearing for the South Carolina House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee.
“The reason why we need another abortion law is because the ones that have been passed so far are ineffective. The reason they are ineffective is that they show impartiality,” Harris remarked to fellow lawmakers. “Complete legal immunity for women to kill their own babies is fueling abortion numbers.”
Before hearing the equal protection bill, lawmakers considered H. 4760, an attempted regulation on abortion pills that includes legal immunity for women who willfully murder their own babies. The Foundation to Abolish Abortion published an analysis ahead of the hearing that discussed several flaws in the legislation, which cannot be expected to meaningfully reduce abortion numbers.
Foundation to Abolish Abortion President Bradley Pierce was able to offer testimony in favor of H. 3537, reminding members of the Subcommittee that “God demands that murder be outlawed” and does not “demand that mere methods, like pills, be regulated.”
While the Subcommittee allowed roughly twenty minutes of testimony on H. 3537, they adjourned without taking action on the bill, leaving the legislation pending without a vote. South Carolina State Representative Jay Jordan, who chairs the Subcommittee, chose to allocate as much time as possible to H. 4760 so that minimal time would be spent on H. 3537.
The hearing was scheduled after immense pressure from Equal Protection South Carolina, which had been knocking doors and asking citizens to voice their support of the equal protection bill ahead of the hearing. In spite of the opposition, the first ever hearing for an equal protection bill in South Carolina, as well as the introduction of the first equal protection bill in the South Carolina Senate, indicate that the hard work of grassroots Christians has been effective.
South Carolina continues to keep abortion legal, and will continue to keep abortion legal until lawmakers ensure that murdering anyone is illegal for everyone. But there are an increasing number of Christians laboring to abolish abortion in the Palmetto State for the glory of God and the love of preborn babies.