Update May 27:
With only four days left in the regular session, lawmakers negotiating a compromise on a bill to extend the waiting period for an abortion from one hour to 24 hours are running out of time.
According to The State:
Sen. Kevin Bryant, an Anderson Republican who chairs the conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers who have thus far stalled in a compromise effort, plans to meet today with Rep. Greg Delleney, his House counterpart on the panel and the author of the House legislation, and offer some other ideas.
He said that either way, the committee will meet at least one more time and take a vote on the Senate proposal.
Hop over to The State for the update.
Women seeking an abortion in South Carolina would have to wait at least a day after getting an ultrasound or reviewing information on the procedure under a compromise approved Wednesday.
As originally introduced, the bill would have required every woman seeking an abortion to make two trips to the abortion provider—once for an ultrasound, and then again for the abortion procedure. In a state with only three abortion providers (in Columbia, Greenville and Charleston) this requirement would have increased the costs associated with the procedure, including travel, food, lodging, lost wages and securing childcare for existing children. A year long effort by pro-choice advocates led to the removal of this requirement in the amendment adopted by the Senate.
Here’s more from the press release:
While we are pleased that our efforts to remove the two-trip requirement were successful, this legislation is still an egregious intrusion into the personal, private medical decisions of women and their families,” said Jessica Bearden, Director of Public Policy. “Mandatory delays are medically unnecessary and suggest that women make the decision to have an abortion flippantly.”
“In addition, the legislation is nothing more than a free advertising scheme for fake clinics. While crisis pregnancy centers claim to provide unbiased information and assistance to pregnant women, they often provide women facing unintended pregnancies with medically inaccurate and intentionally deceptive information on reproductive health, fetal development, contraception and abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers are not legitimate medical facilities. If they want to be treated as such, they should offer comprehensive health care services, meet medical standards, and provide accurate medical information to their clients. It is outrageous that the state legislature is recommending to women that they go to these centers for medical advice and procedures.”
Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Inc. is a private, nonprofit family planning agency that respects and protects the rights of each man and woman to make informed reproductive decisions. Our mission is to provide accessible, high-quality health care and information to clients and to serve as advocate and educator to the community on responsible human sexuality. We have offices and health centers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
###
