The following statement may be attributed to Holly Gatling, Executive Director of South Carolina Citizens for Life. E-mail sccl@sclife.org

 

Since our incorporation in 1974, South Carolina Citizens for Life has worked for passage of laws that protect pregnant woman and unborn children. We have successfully supported 15 laws and abortions have declined in our state by more than 60 percent. You will find documentation of this data in your press packets. Legislation protects the lives of the unborn and other vulnerable members of our human family. In 1992 when it came to light that an abortionist in South Carolina was grinding up the bodies of aborted babies in a common sink disposal and rinsing these human remains into the public water systems, it was the South Carolina legislators that put a stop to that reprehensible practice in a so-called medical facility.

 

Today, we are on the historic cusp of passing the 16^th pro-life law, the Fetal Heartbeat Bill, through the South Carolina Senate. The Senate’s numbering of the Fetal Heartbeat Bill is S1 meaning it is the first, the number one bill, filed in the Senate this year. We commend all the Senators who are working very hard to get this ground-breaking Act to the House. We commend all the officials Including Governor Henry McMaster, Lt. Governor Pamela Evette, and Attorney General Alan Wilson who work to protect innocent human life in South Carolina.

 

Since the beginning of the pro-life movement in 1973, the most popular pro-life motto has been "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart." It is a scientifically accurate statement, not a political soundbite.

 

The Fetal Heartbeat Bill protects a pregnant woman’s right to know that her baby has a beating heart and it protects the unborn members of our human family from death by abortion when the heartbeat can be detected.

 

In a civilized society, we should all agree that the human heartbeat is the objective, scientific proof of life. In a civilized culture, we all can agree that it is a barbaric and savage act to kill an innocent member of the human family whose heart is beating.

 

South Carolina Citizens for Life and many other pro-life and pro-family organizations support S 1, the Fetal Heartbeat Bill, 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.  In 2019, there were more than 5,000 abortions committed in our state meaning abortion stopped the beating hearts of more than 5,000 human beings. This is unconscionable.

 

Abortion is the most malevolent form of institutional racism in our society today. In South Carolina, African-Americans make up 28 percent of the population yet 40 percent of the babies who die from abortion in our state are black children. How can anyone ignore this horrifying statistic?

 

With 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. It has been our privilege to partner with other organizations that support S1 and they will now make their statements.