STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 21.18 | MAY 6, 2022
BIG STORY: Lawmakers, groups react to “wake-up call” of leaked abortion opinion
NEWS BRIEFS: S.C. House to adjust voting lines in 5 counties to settle lawsuit
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Hypocritical
COMMENTARY, Brack: November’s federal elections just got competitive
SPOTLIGHT: Riley Institute at Furman University
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Spring scene
Lawmakers, groups react to “wake-up call” of leaked abortion opinion
Staff reports | South Carolina leaders and women’s health groups are reeling from the impact of a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion. The national political magazine Politico, which broke the story about the memo, described the draft opinion as a “full-throated, unflinching repudiation” of Roe.
The memo, later confirmed as authentic by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, says justices have already voted to overturn the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — which maintained the decision. The 2022 Supreme Court decision would return control of reproductive rights to state leaders. About half of states are poised to make abortion illegal.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the leaked memo, labeled as the Opinion of the Court, that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”
On Thursday in Spartanburg, former GOP Vice President Mike Pence said the final opinion, expected by the end of June, would reset the abortion debate..
“We are on the verge of what may be a new era in American history, an era in which all human life once again is cherished and respected,” he said at an event attended by more than 1,000 people at the Carolina Pregnancy Center. “An era in which the great moral questions of our time are decided by the people through their chosen representatives, instead of unelected judges. We are about to enter an era of renewal of the sanctity of life.”
The draft ruling caused shock waves in South Carolina, particularly among women’s rights advocates.
“This is our wake-up call,” S.C. Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston, soon after learning about the leaked memo. “Register to vote. Tell your friends. Support candidates that support women. State and local elections matter now more than ever.”
Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter, an Orangeburg Democrat who is a longtime leader in the House, had a similar reaction: “The leaked draft unfortunately shows how politicized the Supreme Court has become. I hope it serves as a wake-up call to pro-choice women and men across this country that elections have consequences and mobilize voters to turn out like never before in the midterm and 2024 elections.”
Ann Warner, head of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network in Columbia, said the organization was outraged over the draft opinion.
“We condemn any decision by the Supreme Court that would threaten the rights to abortion care that have been the law of the land for 50 years,” she said. “Abortion is an essential human right, and it has enormous implications for the health, economic well-being, and freedoms of people in every community in our state and nation.”
More than just abortion
But with reproductive rights being a particularly contentious topic in the last generation, especially in Southern and Midwestern states, the decision could lead to political turmoil, and unintended consequences some say.
“It would deal a devastating blow to reproductive rights and Americans’ fundamental freedom to make their own decisions about their health care and families,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman and S.C. native Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “For decades, the Supreme Court has upheld precedent and protected access to safe, legal abortions, as well as the privacy of a decision made between women and their doctor.”
Harrison alluded to the precedent set by Roe v. Wade which has been used to protect, among other things, Americans’ right to medical privacy, a protection not guaranteed in the U.S. constitution – saying such protections are now at risk.
Meanwhile, Alito wrote, “We emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right. Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
The decision would come as 26 states are poised to move swiftly to ban abortions, according to a statement from national women’s health organization Planned Parenthood. That would leave 36 million women of reproductive age, and others who can become pregnant, without access to reproductive health care, the organization said.
“This leaked opinion is horrifying and unprecedented, and it confirms our worst fears: that the Supreme Court is prepared to end the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade,” said Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. “While we have seen the writing on the wall for decades, it is no less devastating, and comes just as anti-abortion rights groups unveil their ultimate plan to ban abortion nationwide.”
Political turmoil sure to follow
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released a statement on the leak, not the ruling.
“It’s a sad day for the Supreme Court and a dangerous day for the rule of law,” he said, calling the leak a “radical assault” on democracy. “For over 200 years, the Supreme Court has been able to deliberate and build consensus without its decisions being compromised in this manner. This has been forever changed by this leak.” NPR reported Tuesday that the original Roe decision was also leaked.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, agreed with Graham.
“What would otherwise be a great day for our country for the lives of the unborn has now been marred by an unprecedented and politically motivated leak, obviously intended to intimidate our Supreme Court Justices,” she said in a statement.
Without proof, Graham went on to blame the leak on “the radical left,” who he said is determined to change the “conservative nature” of the U.S. Supreme Court and bring about a federal takeover of the state election systems.
National polls have shown, however, that reproductive rights remain a bipartisan issue.
Three-quarters of Americans said they wanted to keep Roe v. Wade in place according to a 2018 poll by National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour and Marist Poll.
“Due to extremist Republicans and conservative justices on the Supreme Court, women could lose access to the health care they need and that the overwhelming majority of Americans support,” Harrison said.
Some political figures have said the decision, coming right before midterm elections, could serve to energize Democratic voters and swing even the upcoming national election away from predictions of a Republican blowout.
“Make no mistake: reproductive rights will be on the ballot, and this midterm election is more important now than ever before,” Harrison said. “Voters will make their voices heard, we will fight back with everything we have, and Republicans will have to answer for their party’s relentless attacks on Americans’ rights.”
Abortion still is legal
WREN’s Warner emphasized that abortion is still legal in the Palmetto State.
“In the days ahead, there will be wild speculation and immense anxiety about what this draft decision means for the fate of abortion rights in the United States,” she said. “We want to acknowledge that stress and anxiety are real and fully justified in this moment, especially since we have experienced years of rollbacks on abortion rights.”
She shared these resources for anyone needing help:
- If you need help accessing abortion care, visit abortionfinder.org
- If you need to request financial assistance or practical support (rides, lodging, or escorting), abortions funds can assist you.
- ARC Southeast arc-southeast.org/get-abortion-assistance
- Carolina Abortion Fund www.carolinaabortionfund.org
- Palmetto State Abortion Fund linktr.ee/psabortionfund
Skyler Baldwin, a reporter for the Charleston City Paper, wrote an earlier version of this story . Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
S.C. House to adjust voting lines in 5 counties to settle lawsuit
Staff reports | The S.C. House of Representatives is set to adjust its district lines in five counties to settle allegations its newly drawn election maps were unfair to Black voters. The agreement is part of a settlement announced Thursday by the ACLU.
The settlement agreed to by the House would change voting lines in parts of Dillon, Horry, Kershaw, Orangeburg and Richland counties.
“Today is a victory for the Black community in South Carolina,” said Brenda Murphy, president of the S.C. State Conference of the NAACP. “Today marks a historical occasion: our political leadership has listened to our grievances and is working to create a more equitable political landscape.”
Mark Moore, a private attorney for the House in the case, said the settlement, which must be approved by Thursday, ends costly litigation, according to published reports.
“Certainly, our voting process is one of the greatest virtues we have in South Carolina — and trust in that process is of crucial importance to our people,” he said in a statement released by the office of House Speaker Jay Lucas. More: The State.
In other recent news:
S.C. Statehouse allowing two health overhaul bills to fizzle. Legislation that would have overhauled health care regulation in South Carolina appears dead for this year after a S.C. House committee would not agree with Senate versions of the bills. One bill would have split the state Department of Health and Environmental Control into two agencies while the other would have repealed a Certificate of Need law that regulates what hospitals and doctors can build and buy in SouthCarolina. Another outlet reported DHEC’s future was unclear.
S.C. House kills medical marijuana bill. S.C. House Speaker Pro Tem Tommy Pope, R-Rock Hill, this week shot down a medical marijuana bill by S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, by ruling a 6% fee on medical marijuana sales creates a new tax. That power only is allowed under the state constitution by a bill that originates in the House. The bill originated in the state Senate, where Davis has been fighting to pass the compassionate care bill for seven years.
S.C. Senate passes bill fixing S.C. sex offender registry. The S.C. Senate unanimously passed a bill fixing the state’s sex offender registry. The registry was deemed unconstitutional last June by the S.C. Supreme Court due in part to the registry’s lifetime placement of sex offenders.
S.C. Senate approves transgender sports ban bill. The S.C. Senate on Wednesday approved in a 30-10 vote the bill that would ban transgender students from playing girls’ or women’s sports in public schools and colleges. The approval sends the bill back to the House to review changes.
UofSC board makeover stalled in S.C. Senate. The bill to shrink the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees from 20 voting members to 15 has stalled in the S.C. Senate. Concerns that smaller towns would lose representation on the governing board of the university could derail the effort in passing the bill.
S.C. legislators seek book ban in libraries. South Carolina’s public library leaders are fighting a Statehouse budget proposal that would ban sexual-related books from children’s sections, calling it censorship that threatens what they call the “freedom to read.” The proposal by a vocal minority of S.C. senators calls for cutting aid to libraries that allow kids access to ‘prurient material.’ Small libraries say they could be devastated if the censorship passes. More: The State, WLTX.
Carolina Squat vehicle modification closer to being banned. The S.C. House unanimously voted on Wednesday to ban vehicle modifications like the “Carolina Squat,” a modification in which the front end of a truck or SUV being placed higher than the back end, from roadways. If the bill becomes law, vehicles will be prohibited from raising four or more inches above the height of the rear fender.
Change could be coming to how S.C. observes Confederate Memorial Day. South Carolina currently recognizes May 10 as Confederate Memorial Day, meaning state government offices, for the most part, are closed, but that could be changing.
Hill to pay $12k fine for mishandling campaign account. State Rep. Jonathon Hill, R-Anderson, will pay a $12,000 fine for mishandling his campaign account, the S.C. House Ethics Committee decided May 5 after reaching a settlement with the Townville Republican.
Average teacher salary in S.C. drops. Despite efforts to elevate teacher salaries over the last few years, a new report shows South Carolina actually saw a decrease in average teacher pay.
$61 million to be refunded to customers for S.C. nuclear scandal. Nearly $61 million is being set aside for Dominion Energy South Carolina over the never completed plants at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Columbia. The money will be split based on power use by residential, business and industrial customers.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
Hypocritical
Cartoonist Robert Ariail often interprets things a little differently, but always has an interesting take on what’s going on in South Carolina. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
November’s federal elections just got competitive
By Andy Brack | Now-confirmed reports about this week’s leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case will have a huge impact – so huge that traditional political calculations are being thrown out the window.
November’s normally drab midterm federal elections will shift monumentally to thwart judicial abortion activism that’s been boiling for years. Mainstream voters, already tired of Republican culture wars and outraged over the GOP’s empowerment of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, will now rush to the polls to keep Democrats in power in Washington.
In congressional races slightly favoring Republicans, such as U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s First District reelection bid, Democrats will now become competitive. In places where Republicans thought they might be able to pick up a seat and retake the U.S. House, voters in many places won’t trust them enough to stop the madness to elect them.
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory led to the appointment of three radicals to the Supreme Court – Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. They joined longtime uber-conservatives – Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – and Chief Justice John Roberts, viewed these days as more moderate, to form a 6-3 bloc. Such a lopsided majority made it just a matter of time before the justices fiddled seriously with Roe.
Liberals, however, didn’t bank on it being actually overturned. And neither, we suspect, have most voters, a majority of whom support abortion rights. Now there’s extra motivation for them to get active. And imagine the fuming rallies coming to college campuses. All of this activity will send a new, engaged breed of pragmatic politicians to Washington. And that, we hope, will include some old-time moderate Republicans instead of the knee-jerk breed who have been multiplying like rabbits.
The decision to overturn Roe will send organizers into overdrive. About 239 million Americans were eligible to vote in 2020, but only 160 million voted. That means about 80 million Americans, some registered and others not, didn’t participate. They will be the focus of activists.
Democrats tend to do a much better job at registering people and getting them to the polls – when they really work at organizing. Just look at what’s happening in neighboring Georgia, now a purple state. Past efforts by Democratic superstar Stacey Abrams, now running for governor again, have paid off by shaking up the old guard. Dozens of candidates are running statewide in both parties because Democrats put up lots of candidates, and Republicans responded in kind. The winner? Voters, who now have scads of choices.
As organizers ramp up the political temperature, more people will register and then vote. Democratic leaders often whine that if their voters really participated, they’d win every time. In South Carolina, for example, more than 540,000 people participated in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. But months later, 466,000 Republicans took part in the GOP state primary, compared to only 284,000 Democrats in their state primary. Imagine if all of the people who showed up for the presidential primary turned out in the November general election – Republicans in South Carolina wouldn’t take as many seats.
Unfortunately in South Carolina’s 2022 elections, any surge in voter turnout won’t impact the S.C. House of Representatives, where gerrymandered districts have already determined outcomes in a majority of races. Only about a dozen of 124 races will be truly competitive, which means Dems may pick up a few seats. But it could make a difference in a few statewide races.
And nationally, overturning Roe v. Wade should lead to the most interesting midterm elections since the Great Depression.
Yes, past elections have consequences. But so, too, will a Supreme Court decision on future elections.
Andy Brack is publisher of the Charleston City Paper and editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Riley Institute at Furman University
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. This week’s spotlighted underwriter is Furman University’s Riley Institute, which broadens student and community perspectives about issues critical to South Carolina’s progress. It builds and engages present and future leaders, creates and shares data-supported information about the state’s core challenges, and links the leadership body to sustainable solutions.
Launched in 1999, the Institute is named for former South Carolina Governor and former United States Secretary of Education Richard W. (Dick) Riley. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change.
- Learn more about the Riley Institute.
- Also learn more about the Riley Institute’s Center for Education Policy and Leadership.
Send us your thoughts
Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
Spring scene
Here’s a pleasant spring scene filled with dogwood blooms. But where is it? Send your guess to feedback@statehousereport.com — and remember to include your name, home city and contact information.
Last week’s mystery, “Wouldn’t want to be here at night,”’showed Landsford Canal in Chester County in a photo sent in by Lisa Griffin of Tega Cary.
Several readers identified the canal, including Bill Segars and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman and Jean Prothro, both of Columbia; Pat Keadle of Wagener; and Frank Bouknight and Daniel Prohaska, both of Summerville.
Segars told us that “this waterway was designed by Robert Mills and built under the supervision of Robert Leckie as a way to bypass the rapids of the Catawba River. Even though it began operation in the early 1820s, it was only used until 1940 when it became ineffective to operate.”
Peel reminded that the canal also is a state park: “There are three trails in the park, but the most popular trail by far is the Canal Trail which follows the Landsford Canal. Some original stone work and locks remain, and there are markers along the trail as well as the remains of stone bridges that crossed the canal. All of these features are actually visible in the mystery photo from the canal walls on either side of the photo, which lead the viewer’s gaze down the canal, past a location where a canal lock gate would have been (where the canal deepens) in the center of the photo, and all the way to the background-center of the photo which shows a stone arch bridge crossing over the canal. Finally, a descriptive marker is visible on top of the right-hand stone wall. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words … and the photographer was able to capture a lot of information in a single shot. Well done!”
>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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