MORNING HEADLINES | A subcommittee of the S.C. Senate Medical Affairs Committee will meet Oct. 1 to discuss a bill that would completely ban abortion in South Carolina with no exceptions.
The so-called Unborn Child Protection Act would make abortion a felony in South Carolina. Doctors who perform abortion procedures could face up to 30 years in prison. The bill also calls for elimination of the state’s current exceptions for abortions, including rape, incest and fatal fetal anomalies.
“Senate Bill 323 is unconstitutional and deadly,” said Courtney Thomas, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina (ACLU-SC). “This bill would criminalize medical care, invade our privacy and place unconstitutional restrictions on speech, travel and association. Any lawmaker who cares about the health and safety of South Carolinians should be fighting tooth and nail to stop this bill.”
In a press release from the ACLU-SC, women’s rights advocates, including representatives from the League of Women Voters of South Carolina and the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network said the bill is dangerous and opens the door for lawsuits against anyone who helps a pregnant person.
In May, the S.C. Supreme Court upheld a previous decision that determined fetal heartbeat activity can be detected at six weeks of pregnancy. The current state law says after a heartbeat is detected, abortion is no longer an option. Passed in 2023, this is already one of the most extreme abortion bans in the industrialized world, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
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In Friday’s issue of the Charleston City Paper
CP OPINION: RFK Jr. must go for the good of America. “Noted conspiracy theorist and crank-for-all-seasons Robert F. Kennedy Jr. really is the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. And yes, he’s in charge of vaccine policy in the world’s greatest nation.”
- CP OPINION: Hardaway: In defense of beer festivals
- CP CARTOONS: Stegelin: What can we do?
- CP CARTOONS: Must be the tinfoil hat
CP NEWS: ‘Deja vu’: Bacteria levels in local waterways soar after heavy rain. Charleston Waterkeeper Executive Director Andrew Wunderly says this year’s analysis of bacterial contamination in Charleston County’s rivers and streams feels all too common.
CP NEWS: Tough return to Vietnam helps to heal Lowcountry veteran. North Charleston resident Harvey Jones recently returned from Southeast Asia, disappointed he couldn’t revisit three war sites in the former South Vietnam that he saw as a private with the U.S. Army in the late 1960s.
CP FOOD: 20 years in, Charleston restaurant Fleet Landing debuts new cookbook. Fleet Landing restaurant has a new cookbook that highlights its signature drinks and tasty dishes found at the classic Cooper River waterfront restaurant.
CP MUSIC: Dream Theater brings progressive, metal to North Charleston Sept. 9. The Boston, Mass., quintet Dream Theater has spent more than 40 years combining the sheer power of metal with the complexity of progressive rock.
In other headlines
New North Charleston bridge offers easier access to waterfront district. A new overpass and pedestrian bridge that aims to serve as the entrance to the city’s waterfront district is now open.
Lowcountry inmates spend years waiting in jail for trial. The U.S. Constitution guarantees people accused of crimes the right to a speedy trial, but dozens of Charleston and Berkeley County inmates are spending years behind bars while waiting for their day in court.
Charleston mayor has plan to meet goal of 3,500 new affordable units. Mayor William Cogswell recently unveiled an ambitious plan to address the city’s soaring housing costs and to meet a target set last year that adds 3,500 new affordable units by 2030.
Charleston road safety project nears end after 2024 deaths of 2 college students. Recent traffic congestion on Morrison Drive has been part of an ongoing effort to improve pedestrian safety along a major artery in the upper peninsula, a project that emerged after two college students were killed trying to cross the road last year.
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