MY TURN: Candidate says he would veto personhood bill

By Philip M. Cheney, special to Statehouse Report  |  Passage of the “Personhood Act of South Carolina” (Senate Bill 217) would be a disaster for the state of South Carolina.  All women of childbearing age in South Carolina would be at risk because any miscarriage or stillbirth would subject them to charges of homicide.  Under this proposed legislation, “a human being is a person at fertilization.” (italics added for emphasis)

The forms of birth control which prevent the implantation of the fertilized ovum would be rendered unlawful, leaving only condoms, diaphragms and the rhythm method as lawful.

All abortions would be rendered unlawful, even those to preserve the life of a mother for whom continuation of the pregnancy would lead to death.

The court system, paid for by our taxes, would be overrun by cases of the new crime of fetal homicide.  Additional judges, solicitors, public defenders, prison beds, court rooms and prison guards would be needed.

The public schools of South Carolina with 6,500 teacher vacancies would suffer the loss of additional teachers, as their female employees, with no reliable means of birth control available, take maternity leave. All other employers in the state who rely on female employees would be impacted by the loss of key employees to maternity leave.

Families barely making it with two breadwinners would be subjected to economic disaster with the loss of one income due to maternity.  Existing families with several children would be torn apart by the incarceration of the mother who miscarries, leading to horrific pressure on an already-malfunctioning foster care system in South Carolina.

Physicians, pharmacists, employers, spouses and others would be at legal risk as the attorney for the mother of the unborn child sought to implicate other possible agents in defending her or his client.

Finally, passage of this legislation would render the entire state of South Carolina a “No Woman’s Land” for any woman of childbearing age considering a move to South Carolina.

Needless to say, if elected governor, I would veto this legislation.

Note by Cheney:  Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, an announced candidate for governor, was the lead sponsor of this legislation when it was introduced Jan. 10 when he was a state senator representing Anderson County.

Philip M. Cheney of Fair Play, a retired librarian, is a Democratic candidate for governor.

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