By S.C. Rep. J.A. Moore, exclusive to Statehouse Report | The debate surrounding abortion that has been taking place at the Statehouse is an absolute disgrace to the women of South Carolina. Our state took a major step backwards in August when House Republicans voted to pass a near-total ban on abortion. This week, House Republicans confirmed their attack on women by insisting on their version of a ban over a slightly weaker Senate proposal.
Because of a rogue U.S. Supreme Court, far-right conservatives are waging a war on women in our state and across our country. Let me be completely clear: they will not win.
They will not win because women will turn out to vote at levels never seen before in this year’s election to vote these Republicans out.
They will not win because this ban is cruel and extreme. Under this ban, almost no exceptions are provided for. South Carolinians will not stand for that.
They will not win because this ban will lead to more deaths. Doctors will have a harder time providing adequate care to pregnant women in fear of breaking the law. Women will die if this ban becomes law.
In their misguided crusade to protect “life,” Republicans have turned a blind eye to the severe impact a total ban on abortion would cause.
They are not pro-life. If they were pro-life, they would expand Medicaid to all South Carolinians. If they were pro-life, they would ensure safe drinking water for all. If they were pro-life, they would fully fund education. But they are not pro-life, are they?
No, they are pro-birth. They assume the moral high ground on this issue and shroud themselves in self-righteousness, completely ignoring the suffering and pain a ban like this would cause. There is nothing moral about that. Because they’ve never experienced that pain and suffering, they dismiss it.
I heard one of my Republican colleagues who opposed an exception for rape and incest state that in the hypothetical scenario of a 12-year-old girl who was raped by her father and became pregnant, she “had a choice” to go to a pharmacy and purchase a Plan B contraceptive. He was asked how the child would get to the pharmacy. Did he think the rapist father would drive her?
He replied: “The ambulance,” as if it’s that simple.
Their extreme agenda is indifferent to human suffering and is out-of-touch with South Carolina. Voters will have the final say in November. We need to vote with urgency this year, because if Republicans go through with this abortion ban unpunished, they will be emboldened to expand their attack on civil rights.
S.C. Rep. J.A. Moore, D-North Charleston, represents voters in Berkeley and Charleston counties. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!