South Carolina Senate Bill 323 would create a total abortion ban with almost no exceptions. It would equate abortion with homicide, and it would make it a felony to provide information about obtaining an abortion via the phone or internet. By changing the definition of legal contraceptive and adding a new definition of "human embryo," the bill would also open the door for new restrictions on currently available methods of birth control and family planning.
This bill would:
- make abortion a felony equivalent to “the homicide of a person born alive"
- allow imprisonment up to 30 years for a person having an abortion or aiding in abortion
- prohibit transporting a minor out of state to obtain an abortion
- change the definition of a legal “contraceptive” to exclude anything that prevents ovulation or implantation of a fertilized ovum
- open the door to restrictions on in vitro fertilization (IVF) by defining a “human embryo” as a fertilized egg or zygote
- make it unlawful to possess any drug or substance that can be used for abortion
- make providing information about abortion unlawful, including via a website or phone call
- require public school students to watch a propaganda video called "Meet Baby Olivia," produced by the anti-abortion group Live Action
We oppose this bill because: This bill is unconstitutional and deadly. It is an egregious attack on our autonomy, privacy, speech, and safety.
South Carolina already has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the industrialized world, passed in 2023. The existing 6-week abortion ban has already caused medical professionals to leave South Carolina, forced people to seek unsafe abortions or travel out of state, and endangered the lives of pregnant people due to the constraints placed on life-saving abortions.
Senate Bill 323 would further endanger the lives and autonomy of South Carolinians. It would delete the “fetal heartbeat” provision from the existing law, effectively moving the state from a 6-week abortion ban to a total abortion ban. It would delete exceptions allowing abortion at later stages for victims of rape and incest, as well as for cases of fatal fetal anomaly.
