By Samantha Connors | Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade June 24, state abortion laws, particularly in red, Southern states, changed rapidly. In South Carolina, for example, the ruling triggered a 6-week “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban and now, some lawmakers want a total ban.
“The laws are designed to be very difficult for people to understand,” said a North Carolina staffer at the two-state Carolina Abortion Fund (CAF) who wanted to be on record simply as Justine.
Right now, abortion is still legal in South Carolina, though procedures can only be performed when no fetal cardiac activity is detected, which typically begins around six weeks of pregnancy.
“Six weeks is when most people don’t even realize they’re pregnant,” said Columbia’s Vicki Ringer, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “They’re late by two weeks, and for many women, depending on birth control methods, they may not have periods at all.”
Many factors can cause menstrual periods to stop or become irregular — birth control methods, high levels of exercise, taking certain medications — all of which make it difficult to suspect pregnancy at six weeks.
“The law says that every woman who wants an abortion has to have an ultrasound, even though it is not medically required for an abortion at an early stage of pregnacy,” said Ringer. “At six weeks, you can generally hear fetal cardiac activity through the use of a trans-vaginal ultrasound, but at six weeks, there is no heart. There are no chambers. What you’re looking at is an embryo that has no measurable weight – you can’t even say that it weighs an ounce.”
But according to current South Carolina law, an abortion would be prohibited at this point. Because of this accelerated time limit and short time frame today, women’s reproductive health professionals generally recommend women seek care as soon as they suspect pregnancy, sources say.
“In the past, we had people taking a little more time to raise the money that they’ve needed to pay for an abortion. You know $500 is just not something most people have as disposable cash,” said Ringer. “Nowadays, we tell people don’t wait until you’ve raised the money. We have abortion funds. We have amazing donors who have stepped up so that they can help these women get care earlier.”
If you think you may want an abortion now
South Carolinians seeking abortion care are advised to contact Planned Parenthood South Atlantic or women’s health clinics as soon as they suspect pregnancy. The health care provider will determine if the woman is eligible for an abortion in South Carolina. If not, they can help make an appointment in North Carolina, where laws permit abortion up to 20 weeks, arrange travel logistics and help with cost.
After making an appointment, women can also contact Carolina Abortion Fund, which serves North Carolina and South Carolina. The organization aids women seeking abortion care by helping with the finanical cost of the procedure and travel.
“We have an active transportation network,” said Justine. “We’ll give people money for Uber; give people gas money. We’ll do everything we can to try and help them.”
But for many women, traveling for a procedure is still unfeasible. North Carolina law requires a 72-hour waiting period between meeting with a health care provider and receiving care. This law is intended to deter women from abortion as providers are required to present patients with state-directed materials discouraging abortion.
As a result, South Carolinians traveling to North Carolina for health care must spend at least three days there. Aside from the cost of the procedure and travel, women must also take time off of work and find child care if they already have children.
South Carolina has a similar statute, requiring 24 hours between the presentation of materials about abortion and an abortion appointment.
One woman’s experience
A North Charleston resident this week spoke to Statehouse Report about her experience seeking an abortion in South Carolina seven years ago. Even then under the protection of the Roe precedent, South Carolina law still required providers to show state-directed materials.
“When I went for my appointment, they brought me into a room with all these other girls that are getting one and had us watch these videos about the life process,” she said. “It was a legal thing. They were legally required to try to talk you out of it basically.
She said the experience felt incredibly patronizing.
“Everybody in that room has thought about every single option that they possibly could probably 8 million times before they ended up there. And you don’t have any privacy during it. You don’t have a choice.
“There’s not another medical procedure in the world that makes you do that.”
“Plan C”
What happens now for South Carolina women who are past the 6-week mark and who are unable to travel? Legally, there are no more options in South Carolina to terminate a pregnancy. But some women are turning to Plan C.
“Plan C” is a term for medication abortion, also known as the abortion pill, which is the preferred abortion method. About 60% of abortions are performed with medication, according to Ringer. But using or possessing the two abortion medications — mifepristone and misoprostol — is illegal in South Carolina past six weeks.
When a medication abortion is provided, the patient typically takes the first pill at a health care center and then takes a second pill at home. Telehealth visits for abortion care are illegal in North and South Carolina, though the FDA considers receiving abortion medication via telehealth completely safe, said Ringer.
Women who are traveling to North Carolina for abortions are eligible to receive a medication abortion under North Carolina Law, but traveling back into South Carolina with the medication does put patients at the risk of being criminally prosecuted.
“You could be charged with a crime and go to jail for just possessing [those two drugs],” said Ringer. “If you had them and you tried to sell them to others, that would be a crime. You’d have harsher criminal penalties for possessing those pills than you would if you had pounds and pounds of hard drugs that you were distributing.”
Though it is illegal, many women feel they are in a dire situation and are choosing to order these pills online. Because of medical advancements, the days of “coat hanger abortions” are gone, many abortion advocates say, and illegally obtaining abortion medication is a much safer option for an unlawful abortion. Abortion medication is considered safer than Tylenol and Ibuprofen.
A platform called PlanC.org provides information on obtaining abortion medication in the U.S. and through online, international pharmacies. There are risks to ordering these pills online: They are not FDA approved and obtaining them is considered illegal in South Carolina. PlanC.org orders and tests pills from the recommended sites but cannot guarantee reliability in the future according to PlanC.org.
Opting to have a self-managed abortion (or an at-home abortion with no medical professional) has risks if medical complications arise or an incomplete abortion occurs, said Justine.
“I was scared”
This was the case for the North Charleston woman who shared her story above. After receiving a medication abortion, a blockage occured in her uterus, causing extreme bleeding as her body tried to rid itself of the fetal tissue but could not. This required extra medical attention and a surgical procedure.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I can’t even imagine if that happened to me today because I had that option at the time to, no matter how scared I was, to still go back to the doctor. Today, if the language of the legislature says it is illegal to perform an abortion after six weeks, the second procedure I had, is that legal?”
Though it is rare, this scenario is one of many playing out in health care centers and hospitals across the state. Complications with abortions and wanted pregnancies are leaving doctors confused and unable to act in the patients’ best interest at the risk of losing their license, getting sued or even being criminally prosecuted.
With Senate bill S.1373 currently in committee in the state Senate seeking to ban all abortions without exceptions for rape, incest or medical emergencies, the situation for women may become even more difficult.
“I think that being forced to carry a pregnancy you do not want to carry is cruel, unusual punishment,” said Justine.
Ringer added, “The most extreme legislators don’t believe there should be exceptions for rape or incest. They have limited the exemptions for women’s health. A woman must be near death before she can get an abortion and there are situations where there can never be a viable pregnancy.
“[In some situations] women are being force to, instead of having an abortion, they must go through labor and delivery of a dead fetus. It is terrible. It’s cruel at the basic level, but women are suffering because doctors’ hands are tied.”
Samantha Connors is an editor at the Charleston City Paper, a sister publication of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
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