Politics - News Analysis
South Carolina GOP Lawmakers Propose Death Penalty for Women Who Have Abortions
Just imagine. A desperate woman, unable to afford the child she is already raising with a father who disappeared, one that already has trouble making pediatrician appointments because she doesn’t have a car and must take the bus. Out of desperation, she has a relative in Florida get some abortion pills off the black market. They are intercepted because her OBGYN is a fundamentalist (unbeknownst to her). She had already taken the pills. South Carolina charges her with murder. Because she went through Florida to avoid authorities, the prosecutor seeks the death penalty.
It could happen. From Rolling Stone:
The โSouth Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023โ would amend the stateโs code of laws, redefining โpersonโ to include a fertilized egg at the point of conception, affording that zygote โequal protection under the homicide laws of the stateโ โ up to and including the ultimate punishment: death.ย ย
The bill was authored byย Rep. Rob Harris, a registered nurse and member of the Freedom Caucus; it has attracted 21 co-sponsors to date. (Two former co-sponsors โ Rep. Matt Leber and Rep. Kathy Landing โ asked to have their names removed as sponsors of the bill. Leber and Landing could not be reached for comment.) ย
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Rep.ย Nancy Mace, a Republican who represents South Carolina in the U.S. House, took to the floor on Friday to call attention to the bill, which she sees as part of a โdeeply disturbingโ trend. (Multiple Texas lawmakers have floated the idea ofย executing women who have abortionsย in the past. Those bills, proposed before the Supreme Court overturnedย Roe v. Wade, failed.)
Alito knew what he was unleashing when he wrote, “Roe was egregiously decided from the start…” and reversed the law.
Every miscarriage would be treated like a crime scene. Women would have to prove their innocence (how else would one characterize your fight to prove your innocence?).
Meanwhile, almost as tragically, the rich white woman, a pillar of the community, would take her 17-year-old daughter to the doctor for a “female issue,” and a quick D&C is performed. The pregnancy test is altered. Isn’t everything else handled the same way?
****
jmiciak@yahoo.com, @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman
Comments
Comments are currently closed.