South Carolina Governor Signs Anti-Choice Bill Into Law

Last week, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) signed a bill requiring women to wait one day after an initial consultation to get an abortion. The new bill also gives women the option to look at the ultrasound of the fetus. In South Carolina, a woman can currently get an abortion during the first trimester relatively easily, with most costing between $300 and $950.

The bill was pushed by Carolina Pregnancy Center, which claims it “empowers individuals to make informed choices."

On their “Top 10 Concerns” page, the Center deconstructs women’s worries about having a child, listing them as: “I can’t let my parents know-they’ll kill me!” “I can’t support myself, much less a baby. I want to finish school.” “Well, it’s legal.” and “I’m pregnant because of rape.” Most of these statements assume the woman is young and lacks options, but the majority of women who get abortions (56 percent) are actually in their twenties. Teenagers make up only between 15 and 19 percent, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Most women who get abortions are not young girls living with their parents. They are on their own, building careers, and making life choices every day. These women have the right to pursue their choices without an institution throwing in that last minute guilt-trip. The decision is not easy. There is strong stigma attached to getting an abortion and though 1.29 million women had abortions in 2002, few talk about it. Girlfriends don’t sit around martinis talking about it. Unless you’re close friends with someone, you rarely know if she’s had one in the past. It’s an immensely personal choice that turns political when publicized, which is why women should not be chastised for their decisions.

This bill does that. It does not honor the inherent difficulty of the choice, and it suggests women who receive or even consider abortions are being flippant.

News Channel 7 quoted Sanford, “Given current federal law, I think it's imperative that a decision of this magnitude only be made with the fullest and most accurate knowledge available. It's our hope and expectation that this new law results in a substantial decrease in the number of abortions carried out in South Carolina." Sanford proves what pro-choicers have thought all along: anti-choicers seek to control the lives of women in a world where women already make less than men and must fight harder to excel in male-dominate arenas like science and math. Sanford should be worrying about the quality of life of women in his state and helping them to enhance it, not controlling them.

Lisa Gillespie is a former staff writer for Campus Progress as well as the Managing Editor & New Media Director at Street Sense. She graduated from the University of North Carolina–Asheville.