SC Has Another Abortion Ban

And men slut shame me on Twitter

In March of 2022, some fellow feminist professors and I put together a panel at PC on the history of women’s reproductive rights, and we discussed what would happen if the Supreme Court struck down Roe. It was before the leaks, so we didn’t know for sure, but in one particularly prescient moment, my colleague Dr. Rachel Childers (specialist in healthcare economics) showed us a map of what would happen to abortion access in the South if federal protections were stripped away.

For the moment, we’re living in that map, now that McMaster has signed into law another six-week abortion ban that went into effect immediately. Patients with appointments are having them cancelled, and the only state left in the South with access is Virginia, about five hours away. Because self-managed abortion is illegal in South Carolina, and punishable with jail time, women that buy abortion pills online are subject to criminal prosecution. Providing these pills to women if you are not a physician is also a criminal act and could subject you to jail time. Like the mother and daughter now going to jail in Nebraska (because the mother helped the daughter access abortion medication), if parents assist their children with abortion access, everyone could be charged. Law enforcement is already doing so here, as I’ve written about before.

The law passed the Senate because the three male senators who had helped to block the House ban at conception decided to vote for this ban. Some are trying to paint this version as a reasonable comprise, some kind of moderate take, but of course almost no one knows they’re pregnant at six weeks. The law also requires the patient to meet with the doctor twice before the abortion procedure, making it even less likely an abortion could be performed before the detection of cardiac activity.

I won’t lie—it’s been a rough week, watching these old white men celebrate the law and declaring it somehow a victory for women, these same men who didn’t listen to doctors, or women, or their constituents, constituents who poll after poll show support abortion access. I’m sure privately many of these legislators support some form of abortion rights, but their own party has threatened to primary anyone that doesn’t fall in line, so I guess they’re worried about losing their elections.

But I’m worried about women, and people with uteruses, and babies and kids. I’m really grateful to the women of the House and Senate that keep fighting these bans, and I teared up watching this clip of the Sister Senators on Good Morning, America:

These women obviously have a much firmer grasp on the complexities of pregnancy and birth than say, a number of men on Twitter that got mad about my protests of the law passing. It’s been awhile since I’ve been slut shamed, so I was somewhat surprised by this guy:

(Andy looked up where I teach, and is referring to our mascot, the Blue Hose, so he’s local enough that it feels extra gross.)

A real gem. And there were others, chiming in that you don’t need an abortion if you “just keep your legs closed.” These men really think these bans are just a clear-cut way to control women’s sexual behavior and punish all the sluts out there, make them suffer the consequences of their actions by being forced into motherhood.

But here’s the thing, y’all: these assholes are the minority. Sure, they have power now but nothing lasts forever. Elections are coming up next year and women are the majority.  

Malissa Burnette and her team, along with Planned Parenthood, are in court as I write this asking a judge to block the law while they challenge it yet again (it is almost identical to the ban the court struck down in January). While these men congratulate themselves on preserving their political power, and these other men call me names on Twitter and claim the abortion bans are a non-issue as long as women just don’t have sex, so many badass women and feminists are working hard to make sure we have rights. This is the real work, and this is what matters.

I’m tired of living in a state run by men, I’m tired of writing this newsletter about abortion bans week after week (thanks for reading it). I want to turn off the news, read some books for fun, hang out with the kids, drink a beer on the porch. I’ll do those things, but I’m also going to keep at it. Southern women know how to hold a grudge and I learned from the best. We won’t forget what these men are doing, and our outrage is going to grow and grow and we’ll vote them out. One day our state government will actually represent the people of South Carolina, but to get there, we keep up the fight. Here’s what you can do now: donate to the Palmetto State Abortion Fund so they can help get people to Virginia and other states for abortion care.

We also have to keep getting invested in state and local politics. Look up your representatives and senators, see how they voted, and keep calling and writing them. Donate money to campaigns, and support the work of organizations like WREN (Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network) and Emerge SC (that helps train women to run for office). It’s a long road, but we can build on the foundations left to us by previous generations of feminists and fighters. The pieces are there, we can put them together. Girls and women in this state deserve so much more than the crumbs we’ve been given.

P.S. Here’s a playlist I made when I’m feeling down about living in the South, a place I also love, if some tunes might help: