Doctors, preachers, a giant IUD. Abortion ban draws crowds to SC statehouse

Two sister Senators were shut down during testimony. A speaker colorfully insulted the bill’s sponsor before being escorted out. An OBGYN provided a sex education lesson to state Senators. And a large fake contraceptive device overlooked an over nine-hour day of testimony for a controversial abortion ban proposal.

If passed as written, the proposal would ban nearly all abortions. Individuals that have abortions, physicians that administer abortions and South Carolinians that provide resources or information to women seeking an abortion could become felons.

South Carolinians offered their perspectives beginning at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, alternating between opposing and supporting the bill, for the most part, in the morning. Over the course of the afternoon, invited speakers spoke for and against the bill, and Senators peppered them with questions. The hearing concluded after 6:30 p.m.

Perspectives on the proposed abortion ban played out in the Senate building, on the statehouse grounds, on social media and in inboxes. Advocacy groups, physicians, lawyers, religious leaders, former lawmakers, students and even a large fake IUD all played a role in an emotional fight over whether South Carolina should ban nearly all abortions.

Even the sponsors know the bill faces uphill climb

Lawmakers did not vote on the bill, leaving its future uncertain. Subcommittee chairman state Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, said the bill would need revisions.

State Sen. Rex Rice said Tuesday he knew there was some resistance to the bill from his colleagues. Cash and Rice were both sponsors on the bill.

“There’s obviously some of us that believe that we should” consider the bill, Rice said. “I can say there’s probably that many that don’t think we ought to take it up. So I think it’s going to be a tough fight, but it’s a fight worth having.”

The legislation will likely have an uphill battle throughout the lawmaking process. Only 3 of 34 Republican Senators have their name on the bill. Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood, is the third sponsor.

The Democratic Senators on the committee, in addition to state Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, D-Richland, who sat in on the day’s proceedings, said they would vote against the bill.

“There’s a chance that we’ll never take it up,” state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, told reporters after the morning session. “But if we do, I’m just going to urge all of my colleagues to vote against it.”

While about half of the testimonies were supportive of the bill, prominent anti-abortion groups also opposed the bill ahead of the meeting. South Carolina Citizens for Life disagreed with the bill’s criminalization of women, according to a news release. The group called for lawmakers to pass another House bill that puts a near ban on abortion.

The hearing was just the first step in a long process for the bill to become law, and changes are likely. It is also possible that the bill will not progress out of its subcommittee at all.

Rally, large IUD hosted on statehouse lawn

A long line zigzagged outside the Gressette building at 9 a.m. before the hearing. Many held signs and chanted. Hundreds of people flocked to the statehouse grounds Wednesday, but only a small number were actually allowed in the Senate building.

Throughout the morning, speakers and music boomed from the statehouse steps. A TV was set up with a livestream of the hearing.

A large, 20-foot IUD was also placed on the statehouse lawn. The intrauterine device stood in opposition to restrictions to contraceptives, according to a news release. After hours of testimony, it remained unclear whether the bill could impact access to contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives.

Outside the hearing, it appeared a majority of attendees were against the bill, but some supported the legislation. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, Palmetto State Abortion Fund, the ACLU and the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network had tables with political materials and sometimes contraceptives outside the statehouse.

Quintin Langford volunteered for the Palmetto State Abortion Fund on Wednesday morning. Langford arrived to set up the organization’s table at 8 a.m., and there was already a long line waiting to enter the building, he said.

After the morning hearing, Devine and state Sen. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston, addressed hundreds of people outside.

“I just want to thank you all for taking the time to come up here because there’s so many other things you could be doing, so many other things we could be doing,” Tedder said. “But we are forced to debate this and listen to this.”

‘Where are the women on this committee?’

Former state Sens. Katrina Shealy, of Lexington, and Penry Gustafson, of Kershaw, spoke against the bill. Different people called to testify gave their time to the former Republican Senators.

Both spoke over the two-minute allotted time limit, and Gustafson briefly left the room after she was asked to stop talking. She was met with both applause and calls to sit down from onlookers.

Gustafson and Shealy lost their bids for reelection in Republican primaries after opposing an abortion ban. Republican Sen. Sandy Senn also lost her seat during the 2024 primaries, and Independent Sen. Mia McLeod opted not to run for reelection, leaving the state Senate with only two women. The group of five women Senators opposing the state’s abortion bill in 2023 garnered the nickname “Sister Senators” and won a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award in late 2023.

“Where are the women on this committee?” Gustafson asked as her time expired and before Cash threatened to have her escorted out of the room. There aren’t any women on the Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee — and only two in the body.

Devine praised them.

“I have to give it to my Sister Senators, they did an amazing job at sitting there and speaking up,” Devine said. “But the courage that these ladies had is not present in a lot of Senators.”

Some speakers that supported the bill alluded to the former Senators’ ousters while trying to persuade the committee to move the legislation forward.

Speakers offer personal stories of pregnancy, abortions

In the morning, almost every speaker against the bill was a woman. Many spoke about their personal experiences with abortion, pregnancy complications or sexual assault.

Tori Nardone tearfully told lawmakers about her earlier pregnancy that resulted in a fatal fetal anomaly. Under the proposed legislation, abortions cannot be administered in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.

“Under current restrictions, I was denied the care I needed after hours of painful procedures just to prove my diagnosis,” Nardone said. “I finally begged the doctors to stop if that’s the reality.”

One speaker brought a petition that she said over 6,000 people signed opposing the bill. The signatures were handed over to Hutto.

Many women also spoke in favor of the bill, including one woman who said her mother had been sexually assaulted and continued her pregnancy. Over 50 spoke in the morning, and another several invited speakers presented in the afternoon.

Lawyers, doctors and religious leaders all offered testimony. Many faced extended questions from the committee. Dr. Patricia Seal, a practicing South Carolina OBGYN, gave lawmakers a long presentation explaining how a person becomes pregnant, the menstrual cycle and how different birth controls work.

Some attendees were escorted out

While the long meeting didn’t have many disruptions, one speaker and some attendees were escorted out by security.

In the morning, a speaker was escorted out after saying “f--k you” to the three Senators sponsoring the bill. She hurled other insults at the same Senators before being whisked away.

Another person stood up to leave the afternoon hearing of a speaker in support of the bill. The attendee repeatedly cursed at the Senators before and after being escorted out of the room.

She could be heard yelling while leaving the hearing room. Another person walked out muttering an insult toward the speaker during the same expert testimony.