SC REPUBLICANS WANT DOCTORS TO FACE FIRING SQUAD WHILE TAKING AWAY WOMENS’ MEDICAL FREEDOMS
COLUMBIA, SC — This morning Republicans on the South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee held a phony meeting on two anti-abortion bills under the guise of a public hearing. Only 24 constituents were allowed to testify, despite 98 signing up. The hearing was not live streamed by the state. It is clear that this meeting was just for show, to push these two bills through as quickly as possible, with as little input as possible. The truth is, Republicans are afraid to hear from their constituents on this issue, especially doctors. Every OB/GYN who testified this morning opposed the legislation.
In the legislation introduced by Senators Cash, Rice, Verdin and Grooms (S. 988), an individual who rapes a woman would face a lesser punishment than her doctor would for providing an abortion, since there is no exception for rape or incest. The bill states that a doctor that performs an abortion would be treated in the same manner as a murderer under South Carolina law. This means doctors could face the death penalty via firing squad.
“Let’s not forget that Henry McMaster and Alan Wilson have already flushed $200,000 taxpayer dollars down the toilet trying to defend their unconstitutional abortion ban from last year,” said SCDP Chair Trav Robertson, Jr. “Now they want to pass a bill that would put doctors in front of a firing squad for providing care to their patients. Doctors know it’s bad, South Carolinians know it’s bad, and that’s why this meeting was held in a manner that was not transparent and infringed on our freedom of speech. It is a sad day when Republicans support rapists and child molesters over the medical freedom of their victims.”
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