This is by Liz Smith-Anderson of Rock Hill. Liz is a regular at the York County Green Party sponsored weekly peace vigil.

South Carolina’s Assault on Women.
By Liz Smith-Anderson

The South Carolina House of Representatives has, proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the agenda to outlaw legal abortion in our state is still on. Despite the fact that a woman’s right to an abortion is settled law, local Representatives Greg Delleney, Carl Gullick, Mick Mulveney and Gary Simrill (all Republicans), have sponsored H 3355. This new law, if passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, would require that a woman seeking an abortion must have an ultrasound done and the results shown to the patient before the abortion can go ahead.

Twenty-four representatives in all signed on to sponsor this bill, the four from our county are men. Apparently the push to legislate morality is still at the forefront of state politics. Instead of minding their own business, they want to stick the government, and their own personal agenda, into this most personal decision. They are happy to spread that lie that most women seeking an abortion do so only as a matter of convenience or as a means of birth control. These statements, as far as I am concerned, are far from the truth.

I have known several women who have had abortions. NONE of them did so as a matter of convenience or as a means of birth control. All of them AGONIZED over their decision. In every case but one, that I know of, the father of the child had no say in the decision because they CHOSE to deny that they had fathered the child. No one mentions making the father view the ultrasound before his “partner in crime”, the woman, undergoes a medical procedure that would end the prospect of child support payments for 18 years. Why let the baby’s daddy off the hook? It takes two to make a baby, why not have both parties have a medical procedure forced upon
them for the bad decision they made. Why just make the woman pay? Why is it OK to force the woman to view pictures of her fetus but not the man?

I spoke with Rep. Bessie Moody Lawrence about this bill. She stated that while she thought there should be time restrictions on the termination of pregnancy, she felt this bill was an attempt to put a one size fits all solution to an issue that was very complex. She did not agree with the no exceptions language in the bill and felt that when pregnancy was forced on a woman, through rape or incest, that it should not apply. In the end, she did not feel that this bill was the answer to the problem.

I also spoke with Rep. Herb Kirsh. Rep. Kirsh stated that although he voted for the bill, he believed in a woman’s right to choose. Yet he agreed with the bill and does not think that a woman having to view an ultrasound of the fetus will persuade anyone not to have an abortion.

What this all comes down to is that there are still factions in our state that are pushing onward with their agenda of limiting freedom. From the party that wants less government involvement in our lives, we get a bill that would place the government (with pictures and documentation) in control of the when’s and where’s of a very personal decision. This isn’t about abortion in reality. It’s a cynical attempt to win votes.

Abortion has been around for a long time. Abortion will not end because of its legal status. Wealthy women were able to obtain abortions long before any thought was given to legalizing the procedure. Pay the doctor, keep you mouth shut, go home. It was the lower class women who suffered through back room abortions, dosed themselves with various poisons, and in many cases, died from their botched attempts. This is exactly what we do not want to return to and this legislation is a thinly veiled attempt to do just that.

52% of the women seeking an abortion are younger than 25. Woman aged 20-24 accounted for 32%, teenagers 20%, and girls under that age of 15, 1.5% of all abortions performed in the U.S. White women have the most abortions (60%). 64% of the woman having abortions identified themselves as never having been married. Protestants lead the way with 37.4% of all abortions, followed closely by Catholic woman with 31.3%. Jewish women came in at only 1.3% and those with no religious affiliation at 23.7%. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify
themselves as Born Again/Evangelical Christians. Is this bill an attempt to save the religious amongst us from themselves?

93% of abortions occur because of social reasons, which should read private, personal reasons not open for government interpretation. 52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% between the 9th and 10th weeks. 1% occur after the 20th week of pregnancy and most of these were for medical not social reasons. It is estimated that 43% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old. (information obtained at www.agi-usa.org).

Instead of spending time on pushing women back to second class citizenship, the Green Party of York County believes that our representatives should be working on the issues that will affect the already born. There is more than enough to go around; clean water, water wars, unrestricted growth, ethics, air quality, illegal immigration, protection of wetlands…the list goes on and on. Rep. Moody-Lawrence should be congratulated for having the gumption not to sponsor or vote for H 3355.
Maybe it is because she is a woman that she understands that there is no one answer for all women during what will be one of the most difficult times in their lives…whether or not they end up terminating their pregnancies or not. Our Representatives will not be obligated to raise the unborn they are trying to save, so why are they involved?

In the end, the question for the voters of York County is, do we want representatives who believe women make decisions about terminating pregnancies without thought? Do we want politicians who think they should substitute their faith and judgement for our own? Do we want politicians to stick their noses into the most personal decisions, with the threat of jail time if we don’t do things their way? Or, are you ready to take control of our future and bring York County into the current century? The York County Greens are ready, ballot line in hand, to help progressive, open-minded people challenge these narrow minded and irresponsible legislators on election day.