The Quickie: Six-Week Abortion Ban Advances to South Carolina House Floor
For Immediate Release: May 10, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: SC 6-week ban advances, PPVSAT launches ad campaign to support Gov. Cooper’s veto, House Republicans’ devastating Medicaid cuts, and the role of abortion doulas.
SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN ADVANCES TO SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE FLOOR: Yesterday, the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee voted to advance the revived six-week abortion ban to the full House of Representatives for consideration and a vote. Because the bill was amended in committee, following House approval, it would return to the state Senate for concurrence. The bill has been rapidly progressing ahead of the end of the legislative session tomorrow at 5 PM ET.
“The male-dominated legislature is hellbent on controlling the decisions of women, going as far as to ram through an abortion ban in the final days of the legislative session,” said Vicki Ringer, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “South Carolina’s highest court already ruled that a ban on abortion after the earliest stages of pregnancy is an unconstitutional violation of a patient’s privacy. We also know that bans on abortion lead to substandard health care, higher maternal and infant mortality rates, and more people forced to carry a pregnancy and give birth against their will… This abortion ban is dangerous, and the people of South Carolina don’t want it in our state.”
Read more at WCIV.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD VOTES! SOUTH ATLANTIC LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT VETO OF NORTH CAROLINA ABORTION BAN: Today, Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic (PPVSAT) launched television ads in the Wilmington metropolitan area as part of a campaign to support Gov. Roy Cooper’s imminent veto of Senate Bill 20, a bill that would ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and impose numerous other harmful restrictions.
The six-figure broadcast television buy will run for the next two weeks to highlight the promises made by Republican Rep. Ted Davis to oppose further restrictions on abortion. Given the anti-abortion supermajority in the legislature, Gov. Cooper’s veto is at risk of being overridden. Just one or two defections are needed to sustain his veto. PPVSAT will also be targeting other Republicans who have previously rejected abortion restrictions via billboards and ads on streaming platforms.
“This extreme legislation will put North Carolinians' lives at risk and make it nearly impossible for poor and working-class people to access the reproductive health care they need,” said Alison Kiser, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic. “We know abortion bans lead to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and substandard health care. North Carolinians deserve better. We urge Representative Davis to honor his commitment to the community he serves and protect access to essential health care.”
Read more at the Guardian.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ DEVASTATING MEDICAID CUTS: As discussions over the debt ceiling continue, funding for Medicaid is on the chopping block as House Republicans have proposed adding minimum work requirements for people to be eligible for this critical health care program. This cost-cutting measure would have a devastating impact on health care access for people with lower incomes. According to KFF, more than 1.7 million people would become ineligible for Medicaid under this plan.
Medicaid work requirements disproportionately impact women and sexual and reproductive health care services: Medicaid provided coverage to 1 in 8 nonelderly adult women in 2019 and remains the largest payer of reproductive health care coverage, paying for 75% of family planning services. Some studies of previous work requirement proposals have found that women would make up two-thirds of those who lose coverage from work requirements due to family care responsibilities. As we near one year since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, this would exacerbate our current health care crisis.
Read more at Axios.
“YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE”: THE ROLE OF ABORTION DOULAS: Yesterday, HuffPost published an interview with Hannah Matthews, an abortion doula, about her new book that explores her work and personal reflections as an abortion doula. Abortion doulas play an important role for pregnant people who receive abortion care; according to Matthews, they are “someone who provides emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, logistical, practical support to someone who is having an abortion.”
Matthews spoke about the importance of breaking down stigma surrounding abortion care:
“The title was born from this frustration that abortion was being discussed as something that doesn’t touch most people’s lives — both by folks who were anti-abortion and also folks who were pro-abortion but carried a lot of stigma around what abortion actually is… Truly, at any moment you or someone you love will need abortion care or support.”
Read the full interview at HuffPost. Check out PPFA’s “What Doulas Do” blog series to learn more about their critical work.