STATEMENT FROM ANN WARNER, CEO OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS EMPOWERMENT NETWORK ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT DECSION
by WREN on Jan 5, 2023
STATEMENT FROM ANN WARNER, CEO OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS EMPOWERMENT NETWORK ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT DECSION
January 5, 2023 (PRESS STATEMENT) Columbia, SC – The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled today that the 6-week abortion ban passed by the state legislature in 2021 is an invasion of privacy, which goes against the state’s constitution.
Statement from Ann Warner, CEO of Women’s Rights Empowerment Network (WREN):
“Today’s decision from the state Supreme Court is a victory for everyone in South Carolina. The decision affirms that each of us should have the freedom and the privacy to make decisions about our future and our health. While we are relieved to see the Court uphold this essential right, we know that attacks on our fundamental freedoms will not stop. Extremist policymakers have been working for decades to push abortion access out of reach in South Carolina. This includes forcing people to travel long distances, wait days between appointments, find childcare, and pay out of pocket without insurance coverage. Anti-abortion policymakers have already pre-filed dangerous abortion bans for the 2023 legislative session. We are ready to fight back against these attacks and protect access to imperative reproductive healthcare for all South Carolinians.”
A ban on abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy took effect in South Carolina on June 27, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
In August, the South Carolina Supreme Court temporarily blocked the state’s ban in response to a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and Greenville Women’s Clinic. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs stated that abortion bans went against the right to privacy promised in the state’s constitution.
The decision comes after state legislators failed to pass a near total abortion ban in an unprecedented special session this past summer. The Court’s ruling returns the state to the current law allowing abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
WREN supports the Reproductive Health Rights Act, introduced in the 2023 legislative session as Senate Bill 29. The Reproductive Health Rights Act is a bold commitment to affirm the right to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion, contraception, assistive reproductive technology, pre and postnatal care, and comprehensive reproductive health education.
About WREN
The Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN) is a South Carolina-based nonpartisan nonprofit organization. WREN uses a gender justice framework to build a movement to advance the health, economic well-being, and rights of South Carolina’s women, girls, and gender-expansive people. Learn more at scwren.org.
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Media contact: lgreen@scwren.org