Criminalizing Abortion Medications (H. 4760)

House Bill 4760 would criminalize the distribution, possession, and use of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, which are used for medication abortion, managing miscarriages, treating pregnancy complications, and a variety of other uses. Under this bill, the state would imprison people up to five years for possessing these essential medications without a prescription, or for using them to obtain an abortion.

Mifepristone and misoprostol would be classified as Schedule IV controlled substances, putting them in the same legal category as drugs including Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and Ambien.

We oppose this bill because: Decisions about whether and when to have a child are personal, private matters that a person should be able to make freely in conversation with their medical provider. Instead, some South Carolina lawmakers have engaged in a years-long crusade to criminalize abortion in all forms and take away our reproductive freedom.

While the authors of this bill aim to criminalize abortion, they would also make it difficult for South Carolinians to receive other types of time-sensitive and even life-saving care. Mifepristone and misoprostol are also used to treat conditions including postpartum hemorrhage, miscarriage, Cushing’s Syndrome, and stomach ulcers. Putting up new obstacles and legal threats will only make it more difficult for South Carolinians to receive timely treatment.

South Carolinians already suffer from some of the worst maternal health outcomes in the country, particularly when it comes to Black women. We already have 14 out of 46 counties with no practicing OB-GYN doctor. H. 4760 would make the job of caring for pregnant people, parents, and babies even more difficult and dangerous than it currently is.