We are now eight months past the historic moment when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. On June 22, 2022, 50 years of federally backed abortions came to a startling end. I believe pro-life advocates across the country were both hopeful and prayerful, yet still the decision caught us by surprise.
We marched, we prayed, we preached, we ministered, we supported crisis pregnancy centers and Christian adoption agencies. We stood outside abortion clinics, and we shared the truth about how, from the moment of conception, we are created in the image of God. And suddenly, the darkness of Roe was gone. The conservative majority on the court brought the possibility of the light of life.
Sometimes during the darkness of Roe, our message came across in a way that offended our hearers. At times, we allowed our zeal for life to overcome our compassion, and we came across as harsh and unloving. Some even began to believe any methods were acceptable if our motives were pure. But no matter how pure our motives or how right we were in our righteousness, we can never forget that in a constitutional republic we protect life by being persuasive. We speak the truth in love, and we care for and pray for those who have been deceived by the enemy. We pray they will accept the light of life that shines from God’s Word.
During the 50 years of Roe, South Carolina made great strides in limiting abortion. According to South Carolina Citizens for Life, at its peak in 1988 South Carolina saw 14,133 abortions. In 2020, that number had fallen to 5,568. That is a much lower number, but it still reflects a horrific and unacceptable loss of innocent life.
Estimates show that between the peak in 1988 and 2020, 202,088 babies’ lives were spared by the constant pro-life efforts of multiple organizations working together to influence our legislature and provide compassionate alternatives for women who believed abortion to be the only answer. This number should be celebrated. However, while those babies were allowed to live, during the same time period, almost 277,000 innocent babies were aborted. That is almost 118,000 more than the current population of Charleston, South Carolina’s largest city.
In February 2021, the South Carolina Legislature passed the Heartbeat Bill, protecting life when a heartbeat is detected (approximately six weeks into a pregnancy). Of course, with Roe firmly in control of federal abortion law, Planned Parenthood sued and the courts enjoined the Heartbeat Bill.
Then, bolstered by the appointment of three pro-life justices, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe and the question of when life begins and when life can be protected in the womb was sent back to the states. To date, 14 states have restricted abortion to at least six weeks, with the majority of those states having a near total ban. Several other states ban abortion at 15 or 18 weeks. Currently, South Carolina allows abortions to take place up to 22 weeks’ gestation. That means our “conservative” state has the most liberal abortion law in the Southeast.
As you probably know, the legislature met from June to early November in a special session, trying to pass a law that would protect life in the womb. The House passed a bill that protected life beginning at conception and the Senate passed a revamped Heartbeat Bill. Bills in both the House and the Senate contained exceptions for life of the mother, rape, and incest. The Senate version added fatal fetal anomaly to the Heartbeat Bill. Both chambers refused to pass the other chamber’s bill, leading to a complete collapse of both bills. Then, on Jan. 5 of this year, the South Carolina Supreme Court found a woman’s right to privacy, hidden for over 50 years, in the South Carolina constitution, and three out of five justices voted to overturn the Heartbeat Bill.
The current legislative session began a few weeks later, and at this writing, we find ourselves right back where the debate ended late in 2022. The House passed H3774, the Human Life Protection Act, protecting life beginning at conception. The Senate passed another version of the Heartbeat Bill. Neither chamber is willing to pass the other chamber’s bill, and the number of abortions in South Carolina continues to rise.
Is South Carolina a pro-life state? Right now, we are a destination state for abortion. According to those who stand at the gates of our abortion clinics, seeking a last chance to persuade abortion-minded women to choose life, about half of the cars entering an abortion clinic on any given day are from out of state.
For South Carolina, being a pro-life state is just a dream, while the nightmare of abortion continues to haunt us.