Articles

South Carolina State House | January 24, 2018 11:00 a.m.

Thank you, Dr. Clark.

This is an important day, and I appreciate everybody being here from all those little places that you spoke of all over South Carolina. I have to say that I am so proud of the people of South Carolina, proud of what we are doing in our state, proud of how far we have come. Over three hundred years as you know, and we’ve been through it all, the ups and downs. I really do believe that this is our time. I think the stars have lined up, as they say. I know that the eyes of the country, the eyes of the world in many respects, are on South Carolina. I see in economic terms—businesses—everybody wants to come to South Carolina. There’s a reason. There’s a reason, and the main one is—it’s not the port, it’s not the the technical colleges, it’s not the research universities, it’s not all those things, the mountains, the rivers—it’s the people of South Carolina. When I talk to other people from other countries especially, they say the people of South Carolina are different. And I believe we are. And this, what we are expressing today, is one manifestation of that difference.

I like to look at things in perspective. When you look at how things throughout history…I try to learn as much and I think I forget more than I’ve learned…still, in history you can see that there have been great changes, great movements that have taken time. When it is all over and people look back, they say, “How did those people ever believe any other way?!” And that applies to a lot of things like voting, like ownership of other people, like the divine right of kings and queens, and those kind of things that we look at today and wonder how was it ever otherwise in how we see the light today. I think that this is one area—of human life—that some point in our future—it won’t be tomorrow but it’s coming—there will be a day when everyone will understand clearly that the right to life is the most important right there is, that life begins at conception, it is a God-given right, and we must do all we can to protect it.

You know they say, a lot of those realizations throughout history—and there have countless, all over other countries, not just here—and these were smart people, the smartest, the most educated, the most talented, they all on many things were dead wrong. Sometimes for centuries after centuries. So I am confident—and I see people here that I remember from years ago that have been laboring in this vineyard—my hat’s off to you. Remember this: You cannot beat the man or the woman who won’t quit. You can’t beat someone who won’t quit. So I urge you: don’t quit. We are doing the right thing. It’s a marvelous cause, and I’m looking forward to the day when we can look back and say that the people of South Carolina were in the vanguard of leadership in changing this notion in the United States and in the world about the right to life.

Thank you.

The following speech was made by Personhood SC Executive Director Dr. Matt Clark on January 22, 2018 (the 45th anniversary of the dreadful Roe v. Wade decision) at the 2018 SC Tea Party Coalition Convention in Myrtle Beach, SC. Dr. Clark was asked to speak on the topic “Life begins at Conception.” Video is posted at the end of the transcript…

Good morning, it’s an honor to be here addressing the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention. I’m Dr. Matt Clark, the executive director of Personhood South Carolina. 45 years ago today, the Roe v Wade court legalized the murder of babies in the womb. That court has the blood of over 60 million babies on its hands. Will this be the year we finally end this madness? Will SC be the state that finally has the moral courage to end this scourge? That is what Personhood SC is all about. Personhood is the essence of the Pro-life effort, the restoration of legal protection for all babies in South Carolina, beginning at fertilization. Once we are successful at passing Personhood, abortion will be outlawed in South Carolina, without exception. The Personhood Act of SC (S217, H3530) will not regulate pre-born baby homicide. It will outlaw it, as justice requires. Listen to the key section of The Personhood Act of SC,

“The right to life for each born and preborn human being vests at fertilization. The rights guaranteed by Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution of this State, that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law nor denied the equal protection of the laws, vest at fertilization for each born and preborn human being. This article is enacted pursuant to the power reserved to this State under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Currently, we have the full support of the Governor and the Lt Governor and key House leaders, and we have 21 committed SC Senators, including bipartisan support…

Read moreJanuary 2018 Address to SC Tea Party Coalition Convention

Statement prepared for South Carolina Senate and House of Representatives
Regarding the Personhood Constitutional Amendment (S.719 / H.4093)

June 2, 2015

Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6).

The above verse from the book of Genesis is the basis for Western society’s condemnation and prosecution of the sin and crime of murder. Scripture makes it clear—as did the laws of our land until 1973—that persons born and preborn are to be protected. The personhood legislation that you are considering would bring a resolution to the moral conundrum we’ve been trying to resolve since the US Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade opinion denied the wisdom found in God’s Word and the hundreds of years of legal precedents derived from it.

Each time personhood for the preborn is debated in the SC legislative assemblies—as it has been for far too long now—those who speak in opposition mention several “difficult situations” that would arise if such legislation became law. Ectopic pregnancies, modern reproductive technologies (such as in vitro fertilization), accessibility to certain abortifacient contraceptives are mentioned as reasons that personhood should not be granted to the preborn.

On the other side, those who support personhood for the preborn—as I do—speak of the humanity, dignity, and inalienable rights of those children peacefully floating around in the amniotic fluid of the wombs of their mothers.

On the pro-abortion side, you have pragmatic arguments and an assortment of answers to the question of when life begins—or the bold assertion that that question does not matter. With amazing sophistication but astonishing myopia, pro-abortion advocates have dehumanized, devalued, and ultimately advocated for the destruction of the baby in the womb, thinking somehow this whole conversation is about the privacy of the mommy. They even tenaciously avoid calling the child a baby, using terms or phrases such as “fetus” or “clump of cells” or “protoplasm”¹—unless, of course, the baby is wanted, then somehow that clump of cells is a baby…

Read moreA Pastor’s Statement