By Holly Gatling, Executive Director,
South Carolina Citizens for Life,
and Jimmy Hepburn, SCCL Lobbyist
COLUMBIA, SC (Thursday, January 14, 2021) The Fetal Heartbeat Bill (S1) cleared its first hurdle Thursday when it passed the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee by a vote of 3-2 along party lines. The bill, which prohibits most abortions when a baby’s heartbeat can be detected, now moves to the full
17-member Medical Affairs Committee where several amendments will be considered. The one amendment that passed the subcommittee ensures that pregnant women are given information about adoption and foster care.
Voting for the Fetal Heartbeat Bill were Subcommittee Chairman Senator Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, Senator Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, and Senator Richard Cash, R-Anderson. The two Democrats, Senators Marlon Kimpson of Charleston, and Margie Bright Matthews, of Colleton, opposed the bill.
In a surprise appearance, pro-life Lt. Governor Pamela Evette urged the subcommittee members to pass the Fetal Heartbeat Bill saying she is standing with pro-life Governor Henry McMaster on the issue. In his State of the State address Wednesday night, the Governor said, “The right to life is the most
precious right and the most fragile. We must never let it be taken for granted. Send me the Heartbeat Bill and I will sign it into law.”
The Reverend Tony Foster, an African-American Pastor from Greenwood spoke powerfully to the issue of how abortion discriminates against black children. In supporting the Fetal Heartbeat Bill, he testified that of the 62 million abortions that have occurred in the United States since 1973, 20 million
have been African-American babies.
The subcommittee hearing lasted the better part of five hours. South Carolina Citizens for Life strongly supported the bill in a letter to the subcommittee which stated in part, “South Carolina Citizens for Life and many other pro-life and pro-family organizations support S1 as a challenge to the
current legal precedent that permits abortion on demand in South Carolina until the unborn child is capable of feeling pain, which is scientifically documented at 20 weeks post fertilization.
“With new changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, it is our sincere hope that the legislation will withstand constitutional challenge and be implemented in order to save innocent, unborn babies' lives when a heartbeat is present. We are encouraged by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in MKB
Management v. Stenehjem in which the court questioned the validity of abortion precedents and laid out many reasons to reevaluate the current standards of abortion restrictions.”
Other organizations supporting the Heartbeat Bill include the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Palmetto Family, and the South Carolina Association of Pregnancy Care Centers.
One interesting moment occurred when Senator Davis agreed with a woman testifying against the Bill. She said that women should not fall into the circumstances that usually motivate them to seek an abortion, from rape to lack of preparation for parenthood. In return she agreed that pro-life and
pro-abortion supporters can agree on this at least. The one amendment that passed the subcommittee assures that a woman seeking an abortion has the right to know that adoption and foster care are available.
Another opponent of the bill was not so polite. He told the subcommittee members the pro-abortion movement in South Carolina, “will make your life a living hell.”
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