Gender Justice, Health and Education, Uncategorized

This is not a drill: Two abortion restrictions will be heard on Wednesday!

by WREN Staff on Jan 20, 2022

(Instructions for testifiers are at the end of this blog.)

On January 26th, the SC Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee will hear two bills (S.907 and S.988) that, if passed, will be catastrophic for more than a million South Carolinians planning our families and our futures.

WREN is rapidly responding to these threats but we need all hands on deck to speak out and donate toward our $25,000 goal that allows us to:

Donate to protect South Carolinians’ families and futures today!

These are the bills being heard:

S.907

This is a Medication Abortion Misinformation bill. This bill would force providers to disclose medically inaccurate information about medication abortion. It would require doctors to tell abortion patients who receive a medication abortion that they can reverse the medication they’ve taken.

There is no scientific evidence that this works. In fact, a medical study on this proved to be so dangerous for those participating in the study that it had to be stopped. This bill would require doctors and other health care professionals to provide patients with dangerous, unproven, unscientific medical misinformation.

Medication abortion is performed with two medications, mifepristone, and misoprostol. The first medicine (mifepristone) is provided by a doctor at a health center or abortion clinic. The second medication is given to the patient to take at home. Medication abortion is extremely safe. Half of all abortions in SC today are performed through medication.

Learn more about this bill in our factsheet.

Send an email to legislators asking them to vote no.

S.988

This bill is incredibly dangerous. S.988 uses language referring to a fertilized egg as a person, meaning that a fertilized egg has all the same rights and protections as a living, breathing human. This is Personhood language which has far-reaching implications beyond just abortion access such as:

Additionally, the only exception S.988 includes is to prevent the death of the pregnant person, with no exceptions to preserve their health. A pregnant person has to be at the brink of death in order to access an abortion. This could have lasting implications on their mental and physical health.

S.988 is a trigger ban, meaning it will only go into effect if Roe V. Wade is overturned or significantly modified. This may seem like a distant threat, but the Mississippi abortion case that the Supreme Court heard in December 2021 could make it a very real possibility. If Roe falls, and S.988 is passed, then abortion would be illegal in South Carolina.

Learn more about this bill in our factsheet.

Send an email to legislators asking them to vote no.

Testifier Instructions:

The hearing will happen in room 209, which has a capacity of 40. They have reserved an overflow room, room 207, for those that do not fit in room 209, this room also has a capacity of 40, there will be no standing in the hallways or anywhere else in the building, if both rooms are full, you will not be allowed inside the building.

There will be security present and they will only be allowing inside the building the 98 people who signed up to testify. If you are not on the list of 98, you will not be allowed inside the building at all.

Senators on the subcommittee are selecting who on the list of 98 they will allow to testify; only those that they select and a few other Senator designees will be allowed in room 209. The rest of the 98 will be put in 207 (until it reaches capacity).

If you have been selected to testify, Senate staff is working to email you and notify you that you have been selected. However, THEY MAY NOT GET ALL THE EMAILS OUT TODAY, meaning those selected to testify may not be notified prior to the hearing.

This is what we recommend:

TLDR: We understand this uncertainty regarding your testifier status is frustrating and confusing, if you aren’t sure if you have been selected, then you can watch the live stream.

All testimony will be in-person, we encourage you to take all necessary precautions when going to the hearing. Masks are not required at the Statehouse, so please bring the best mask you have. We are working to have PPE available, but in case we run out, please bring your own. Your testimony can be up to 3 minutes long.

The hearing will be held in room 209 of the Gressettte Building on the SC Statehouse Grounds, see the map below.

 

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