Health and Education, Policy Updates
H.5399 Sent to Conference Committee
by Ashley Lidow on Oct 24, 2022
After months of protests and objections by health care providers, advocates, and the majority of South Carolinians, the South Carolina Legislature is still pushing to pass H.5399.
On Tuesday, October 18, the Senate voted to “insist” on their version of H.5399. Now the bill will be sent to a conference committee made up of 3 members of the House and 3 members of the Senate to decide which version of the bill they are willing to accept.
- The House version of the bill was a total ban on abortion with limited exception for life of the pregnant person and even more narrow exception for rape and incest survivors.
- The Senate failed to muster the votes needed to pass a total abortion ban. However, the bill that ultimately passed places more restrictions on the 6-week bill passed last year – including even more narrow restrictions for rape and incest survivors who seek abortion care.
All abortion bans and restrictions are extreme and target people already marginalized by our health care system to deprive them of abortion access, shame their healthcare decisions, and put unnecessary hurdles in their way. All people should be trusted to make the reproductive healthcare decisions that are best for them — including abortion, on their timeline, and with the resources they need.
Email members of the conference committee and tell them to reject H.5399 in all forms. Click here to email members of the committee https://p2a.co/6G7HlaJ
House members assigned to the committee are McCravy, Pope, and Wetmore
Senators assigned to the committee are Massey, Bright Matthews, and Cash.