MORNING NEWSBREAK | The number of abortions provided in South Carolina plummeted by about 80% following the implementation of the state’s six-week abortion ban in August 2023, new state data show.
In the first eight months of 2023, during which abortion was legal for the first 5 1⁄2 months of pregnancy in South Carolina, clinics and hospitals provided 7,397 abortions, or about 954 a month, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. But since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ban in August 2023, 790 abortions were performed during the rest of the year, or about 186 a month.
“The abortion ban that was put into place by South Carolina politicians has not changed the number of abortions for South Carolina women, it’s just changed geography,” Vicki Ringer, director of public affairs at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, told The Post and Courier. “They’re forced to travel out of state at great cost, a lot of time and unnecessary hardships to seek the abortion they want.”
Ringer added there are probably more abortions occurring across the state that aren’t picked up by data due to the rise of medication abortion such as the abortion pill mifepristone, which was recently protected by the U.S. Supreme Court after anti-abortion groups tried to get it banned.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s rules on abortion medication. According to Associated Press, mifepristone accounted for nearly two-thirds of all U.S. abortions last year.
In City Paper today:
CP NEWS: A history lesson in the wake of a surfboard theft. Two unidentified Clemson University male students won’t face criminal charges for taking Mosquito Beach’s colorful surfboard, but there are some strings attached.
CP OPINION: Give death to Education Dept.’s book ban
“And no, this is not anti-censorship hysteria. Iowa schools banned 1984, — along with Beloved, As I Lay Dying and about 3,500 other books — under a similar law in 2023. Expect the same here if SCDE’s “sexual conduct” prohibition is allowed to go into effect as scheduled on June 25.”
CP CARTOON:
CP FOCUS: Sean of the South: Dietrich weaves small, tall tales about our disappearing region. Writer Sean Dietrich will be at the Charleston Music Hall June 20 to perform for the first time locally with a goal to help people feel a little bit better for the hour or two that he’s on stage telling stories and playing music.
CP PROFILE: Buxton fills her mind and shelves with books. Buxton Books is located at 160 King Street in downtown Charleston, decorated with built-in black bookshelves filled with classics, new releases, Charleston specials, children’s books and owner Polly Buxton’s recommendations.
CP ART: Pair digitally preserves remaining Shepard Fairey murals. Two Charleston tech entrepreneurs are digitizing Charleston native and world-famous artist Shepard Fairey’s 2014 murals he debuted across Charleston. Of the five made, only three remain.
In other recent headlines:
Folly Beach to consider changing turtle lighting rules. Folly Beach City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance this week to amend the rules for artificial lighting along the beachfront to protect sea turtles during its nesting season. In other Folly Beach news, the city passed its first hate crime ordinance.
Charleston Co. seeks $5.8M grant for affordable housing program. Charleston County is advancing a program to provide more affordable housing options to the community, but needs an additional $5.8 million grant to advance the project into Phase III.
Historic Charleston elementary school to open as affordable senior housing. The former Henry P. Archer Elementary School will open as an 89-unit affordable housing complex for seniors in a ribbon cutting Thursday.
Charleston’s Lewis Barbecue closes temporarily. Popular barbecue restaurant Lewis Barbecue in Charleston has temporarily closed and canceled catering orders through mid-June for maintenance, according to its website.
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