Statement on S. 473 in South Carolina

Yesterday, the South Carolina Senate chamber passed a six week ban, and now the bill heads to the desk of Governor Henry McMaster (who has vowed to sign it into law as soon as possible). This bill directly contradicts the January ruling made by the state Supreme Court that found a 6-week ban unconstitutional. We expect to see this challenged in the courts. 

We could give you our standard ream of axioms: the state cannot legislate away abortion; abortion is ancient and eternal; abortion is good and necessary and worth protecting. But we’d rather underscore our commitment to the people of South Carolina instead: since 2011, we have proudly coordinated and funded care in the Carolinas, helping people cross the imaginary boundaries of our so-called state lines to pursue the compassionate support they deserve. We will continue to do so. 

This morning (like most mornings) we’re thinking about the callers farthest to the margins: the person who needed fifteen thousand dollars; the person unable to work due to their morning sickness but unable to secure an appointment sooner than three weeks away; the person down to their last thirty dollars and expected to drive more than a hundred miles for care in an unreliable car. All abortion bans are always cruel and unyielding, in part because they require a feigned ignorance as to the material reality and complexity of our lives. We answer calls on our helpline because we have been those callers, dancing on a knife’s edge–a half second from a failed transmission or dropped childcare or maxing out a credit card to stay afloat. 

We won’t lie: the walls are most assuredly closing in. It is hard to strike an honest balance in tone between telling you the truth and also telling you that it doesn’t matter: we can walk and chew gum; we can tell you we are scraping our coffers dry in record time each month and also that we are undeterred. We’ve seen better. We’ve seen worse. We’re still kicking.