COLUMBIA, S.C. (Tuesday, July 19, 2022) - The South Carolina House Judiciary Committee’s Ad Hoc Committee appointed to study potentially outlawing most abortions in the Palmetto State, made its 9-3 recommendation today to protect the
lives of babies waiting to be born while strongly protecting the life of the mother.
Committee Chairman, pro-life Representative John McCravy, R-Greenwood, said the goal of the recommendation is “ending the practice of using abortion as birth control.” He said, "South Carolina took a big step forward in protecting all life – not just people preferred by society. Everyone’s life is valuable today.”
Lisa Van Riper, President of South Carolina Citizens for Life, the oldest and largest single-issue pro-life organization in the state, praised the committee for its vote. “I commend the Ad Hoc Committee for its overwhelming vote to recommend legislation that will protect the life of the unborn child while protecting the life of the mother throughout all nine months of pregnancy."
“For almost 50 years, the unborn’s life has gone with little legal recognition or protection,” Mrs. Van Riper said. “For almost five decades, women have been left vulnerable to pressure from
boyfriends, parents and employers. For too long, society has been asked to address its social and economic problems by discarding the unborn child. Today, the Ad Hoc Committee gives us a better way forward for the unborn, the mother, and society.”
The 9-3 vote was largely along party lines with eight Republicans and one Democrat voting to advance the language to the House Judiciary Committee and three Democrats opposing the proposed language. It protects the lives of unborn children conceived in rape or diagnosed before birth with physical or intellectual challenges.
In favor of the proposed language were pro-life House members:
- Representative Micah Caskey, R-Lexington
- Representative Heather Ammons Crawford, R-Horry
- Representative Jackie Hayes, D-Dillon
- Representative David Hiott, R-Pickens
- Representative Jeff Johnson, R-Horry
- Representative Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg
- Representative Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg
- Representative Melissa Lackey Oremus, R-Aiken
- Representative John McCravy, R-Greenwood, Ad Hoc Committee Chairman
Opposing the language were pro-abortion House members:
- Representative Chandra Dillard, D-Greenville
- Representative Rosalyn Henderson-Myers, D-Spartanburg
- Representative David Weeks, D-Sumter
A proposal by Representative Magnuson to impose criminal penalties on women who procure drugs for the purpose of an abortion was tabled. Representative McCravy said the issue could be discussed later when the House Judiciary sets its next meeting, possibly in mid-August, to advance the bill. The Ad Hoc Committee language does not subject women to prosecution,
he said; the language “seeks to err on the side of mercy and understanding.”
