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Updated Thursday, July 30, 2020

In advance of June 9, Personhood SC has sent out pledges, asking for support of personhood legislation. The latest responses may be found below, organized by districts.

South Carolina, April 9^th

Letters and petitions have been sent to Governor Henry McMaster urging him to close abortions clinics, who have failed to comply with his request to “halt all elective and non-threatening surgical and medical procedures.” The medical community at-large has voluntarily complied with the request during this crisis at great financial cost. They are united in their efforts to protect the lives of the most vulnerable in our society with one glaring exception — abortion clinics. As hospitals across the country face critical shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE) and medical resources essential to combating the coronavirus, abortion clinics continue to use scarce PPE and increase risk to exposure among staff and patients. 

A letter to Gov. McMaster authored by Senator Richard Cash (R-Anderson) and signed by 17 Senators including Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and Senate President Harvey Peeler stated, “As a matter of fact, killing a baby in the mother’s womb is an elective procedure, a “choice”, not a necessity, not an emergency. Abortion clinics are not complying with the request you made on March 17th; rather they are using up PPE and exposing staff and patients to unnecessary risks by continuing to perform abortions.”

In a conference arranged by Sen. Cash, Rep. John McCravy (R-Greenwood), the moderator of the House Family Caucus said, “We are to the person outraged… disgusted at their failure to comply with the Governor’s request.” Family Caucus member Stewart Jones (R-Laurens), authored a “Letter from the House” signed by 17 members of the house that said, “The Governor has closed business, sent people home, families are not working, yet abortions continue in South Carolina. We need to close every abortion clinic in this state immediately. Other states are doing this across our country. Texas, Ohio, Maryland and other States are making these same calls.”

Also on the call were leaders of pro-family groups. Joshua Putnam, executive director of Palmetto Family Council, launched a petition campaign asking for abortion closure to “limit community spread” and urging “the Governor and DHEC to enforce what they have medical facilities to do during this pandemic.” Lisa Van Riper, President of South Carolina Citizens for Life, said, “society is working feverishly and making great sacrifice to save the heartbeat of those stricken with this virus. The fact that Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics… [continue to be] allowed to operate in direct defiance of the Governor’s directive is unconscionable.”   

Holly Gattling, speaking on behalf of the National Right to Life Committee, addressed the question of whether the Governor has the legal authority to temporarily close abortion clinics during the crisis. She pointed to the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The court upheld Governor Greg Abbot’s (R-TX) executive order requiring “all licensed medical facilities, and that’s including abortion facilities, to postpone all surgeries and procedures not immediately medically necessary.”

Dr. Matt Clark, a practicing physician who holds a master’s in public health and serves as Executive Director of Personhood SC, offered his thoughts from a medical and public health perspective on the decision of abortion practitioner’s to continue to provide abortions: “From the perspective of an individual physician, in my office we’re practicing very strict social distancing … and the kinds of visits we have with patients are not near as close and likely to spread illness as what’s going on inside abortion clinics.

The following is a transcript of the letter sent by 17 representatives of the state house of South Carolina to Governor Henry McMaster, asking him and his administration to close non-essential abortion clinics in the state during the COVID-19 crisis.

Dear Governor McMaster:

We the undersigned members of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the Family Caucus, write to raise substantial concern regarding Planned Parenthood and any abortion provider in South Carolina. Because of the pandemic, you asked medical professionals not to perform elective procedures at this time. Unfortunately, some are not following this advice and therefore are endangering the public by continuing. Despite your request on March 17th to “halt all elective and non-threatening surgical and medical procedures … ” they have continued to perform abortions.

It is imperative for healthcare facilities to cease performing elective surgeries during the current COVID-19 crisis yet, Planned Parenthood continues to perform elective abortions.

Putting aside any questions with respect to “elective” and “nonselective” at a time when personal protective equipment and other medical supplies are in short supply, it is unconscionable that a healthcare facility is not contributing to helping. Abortion facilities are linked to surgical facilities.

A growing number of states like Ohio and Maryland have ceased performing elective abortions during this COVID-19 health crisis to preserve critical personal protective equipment and medical supplies. South Carolina should do the same and stop abortions from being performed in defense of life.

Also, it was reported in the Hill that “A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Texas can temporarily enforce a ban on abortions as part of its coronavirus response. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay on a ruling from a lower court that had blocked Texas from enforcing the ban. State officials argue the ban is intended to conserve medical supplies for health workers on the front lines of the corona virus response.”

We are sure you will find the fact that Planned Parenthood continues to operate performing abortions during this time equally disturbing. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We are hopeful that all healthcare facilities will direct resources to beating COVID-19 and defending life by helping the people of South Carolina in this incredibly difficult time. I’ve also attached a letter from Palmetto Family to DHEC that has pertinent information.

Sincerely,

Rep. Stewart 0. Jones
Rep. John R. Mccravy III
Rep. Josiah Magnuson
Rep. Garry R. Smith
Rep. Steven W. Long
Rep. Jonathon D. Hill
Rep. Doug Gilliam
Rep. Mike Burns
Rep. Anne J. Thayer
Rep. Bobby J. Cox
Rep. William M. Chumley
Rep. Mark Willis
Rep. Melissa Oremus
Rep. Rick Martin
Rep. Ashley Trantham
Rep. Patrick Haddon
Rep. Adam Morgan

A copy of the original letter may be read here: House Representative Letter – 6 April 2020

Please ask Senator Shane Massey to bring the Personhood Act (S217) to a vote immediately!

Senator Shane Massey’s contact information:

shanemassey@scsenate.gov

(803) 212-6330 (Gressette Senate Office)

(803) 480-0419 (Home)

(803) 637-6200 (Business)

Find contact information for all senators here.

Updated: 4:28 p.m., Tuesday, March 20

The Senate Majority Leader and Rules Committee Chairman, Senator Shane Massey, should be prayed for AND emailed AND called daily. Ask Sen. Massey to set personhood for special order without delay. He is the majority leader and the rules committee chairman, and he has the leadership and the authority to do this.

The following senators are committed to vote for cloture:

Cash, Timmons, Goldfinch, Climer, Rice, Talley, Shealy, Martin, Corbin, Peeler, Verdin, Gregory

The following senators are not committed to vote for cloture and are the highest priority to contact:

Email AND Call daily: Williams, Bennett, Leatherman, Campbell

The following Democrats have supported Personhood legislation in the past but have yet to give support this year (ask for cloture commitment):

Email AND Call daily: Reese, Jackson

The following Republican senators have yet to support S217 (ask for support of S217 before asking for cloture commitment):

Email AND call daily: Senn, Rankin, Campsen

The following Democrat senators have yet to support S217:

Allen, Fanning, Hutto, Johnson, Kimpson, Malloy, Matthews, Bright Matthews, McElveen, McLeod, Nicholson, Sabb, Scott, Setzler, Sheheen