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Palmetto Examiner examines
what kind of books are being removed. The results are shocking, disturbing and in
the gutter dirty and inappropriate
 |
| U.S. House Rep. James D. Clyburn, (D) SC-6, introduces California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Kershaw County democrats on July 8. Newsom was on a two-day tour across the Palmetto State hosted by the South Carolina Democrat Party |
“South
Carolina is leading the nation in banning books,” U.S. House Rep. James
Clyburn, (D) SC-6 said
last week while introducing California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to a
crowd in Kershaw County during a two-day visit covering eight counties in rural
areas that lean red in the Palmetto State.
“This state leads the nation in banning books. You have a superintendent of
education banning books on Rosa Parks. Banning books on Martin Luther King Jr,”
claimed Clyburn.
Newsom followed up on the issue of book bans saying he was “struck by” what the
congressman said about the “book bans” and “it was emblematic about the moment
we are in.”
“Last year there were 4,240 books banned in the United States of America. You
can look that up,” said Newsom. “It was a banning binge to the likes we’ve
never experienced in the United States. There has been a cultural purge in this
country. The congressman was exactly right. They tried to write out the race of
Rosa Parks.”
I didn’t look up how many books were banned in the United States. I’ll take
Gavin’s word on it, although I shouldn’t. I did look up how many books have
been removed or restricted from South Carolina public school libraries, and it
is true. South Carolina does lead the nation with 21 books removed and one with
restrictions, but not one for the reasons of being about the life or race of
Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr.
Palmetto Examiner found no evidence that South Carolina has removed or
restricted any books about the life of Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr. So,
what kind of books did we find are being removed? That answer is dirty and
filthy.
Only sexually graphic, age-inappropriate material has been removed or restricted.
And we’re not talking about the dirty romance novel some lonely wives read, or
a stack of Playboys hidden in your friend’s dad’s garage. No, we’re talking
stuff so far in the gutter of filth it would make Hugh Heffner turn 50 shades
of red.
Below is a list of the 22 books removed or restricted by the South Carolina
Board of Education. In its content you will find written material so sexually explicit,
I can’t say it on the radio, or prime time television due to FCC rules on
decency or even allowed on YouTube for the same reasons. In fact, Lexington Richland
5 school board members voted to have
the audio redacted from their YouTube channel due to explicit content when
parents read from the books at a board meeting. Graphic descriptions and
emotional details of violent gang rapes, gay incest, oral sex, anal sex, sex
with minors and teenage, heterosexual, lesbian and or gay sex with vivid descriptions
of the fondling and kissing of breasts, genitalia and masturbation are not
allowed to be read out loud on a school board’s YouTube channel, but it’s ok to
be in the library for students to read.
The descriptions in these books are so graphic I will not re-write them here
for you to read. I will provide the link to the South Carolina Board of
Education’s Instructional Material Complaint Reports (IMCRs) with excerpts from
said books that you can read for yourself and make your own judgement if you
choose to, but you have been warned. No one should be reading this filth in my
opinion, especially children. There’s a good reason we don’t allow children to
look at pornography, watch R rated or adult movies; we shouldn’t let them read
it either. It robs them of their innocence, corrupts their minds.
Here are the books with links to the South Carolina Board of Education’s IMRCs
with excerpts from the books and page numbers. Read them at your own risk.
Push
by Sapphire
The
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Empire
of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Half
of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Hopeless
by Colleen Hoover
Identical
by Ellen Hopkins
Kingdom
of Ash by Sarah J. Mass
Last
Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Living
Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Lucky
by Alice Sebold
Tricks
by Ellen Hopkins
Damsel
by Elana Arnold
Flamer
by Mike Curato
Ugly
Love by Colleen Hoover
All
Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Collateral
by Ellen Hopkins
A
Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A
Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass
A
Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass
A
Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Mass
Normal
People by Sally Rooney
Crank
by Ellen Hopkins: This book didn’t meet the criteria of explicit sexual
material and was not removed, but was determined to have themes of drug abuse and
was restricted to high school students.
While reading these IMCRs, there was a name that kept showing up as the filer
of the complaint, Elizabeth “Ivie” Szalai, a Beaufort resident and concerned
parent of a student.
Like
many parents, Szalai, started paying more attention and getting involved in
their children’s schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and virtual online
learning and stayed engaged after.
“I kept seeing on social media these books that were being found in public
schools available to children and I kind of looked into it and found oh my gosh
that really shouldn’t be available to minors,” Szalai told Palmetto Examiner.
She was then asked by a friend to see if her local school library had any of
the books in question and she started researching.
“I really went down the rabbit hole,” she said. “I found 96 books that were,
not all of them were sexually explicit, but all of them had questionable adult
content that maybe wouldn’t be the right thing to expose to minors.”
In October 2022, Szalai sent her findings to the Chief Instructional Services Officer
and the Beaufort County School Board citing morality and decency laws she felt
were in violation. In a panic, the Beaufort County School Board removed all 96
books from the school library shelves for review and that’s when the firestorm
started.
It was never Szalai’s intention to create a firestorm of controversy or media
frenzy for notoriety. She just wanted to bring awareness to the improper
material in hopes it would be removed from schools.
“I hoped
they didn’t realize this material was in there, and they were going to take a
look at the list and kind of cross reference and look at the passages and be
like you know what, this really isn’t appropriate to be making available to
minors, Szalai told Palmetto Examiner. “I never in a million years thought it
would turn into what it has turned into. I just wanted to do that work, get the
books gone and move on to my next project.”
 |
Elizabeth
“Ivie” Szalai says she has been harassed and called |
Interestingly,
groups like the ACLU, FABB and others who continue to fight for these books to
remain in school libraries rarely ever make it about the explicit sexual
material in the books, but frame the argument as minorities being marginalized or
the protection of rights and the freedom for students to be able to read
whatever book they want.
FABB claims on their own website
their mission is to “advocate for intellectual freedom, champion educators and
librarians, and promote socially just and public education.”
Melinda Henrickson, who founded FABB with other moms and parents, and then ran
for South Carolina House District 124 admitted
during the campaign it’s not about the books.
“It was never about the books,” Henrickson said. “It was about marginalizing minority
groups and silencing black and brown authors and people in the LBGTQ community.”
And so, the sexually explicit and inappropriate material is irrelevant if
someone is being marginalized and teens should be left unchecked to have the
freedom to read whatever they want? Why do other media platforms and products
like movies and television shows have ratings to protect underage children from
the very content we’re allowing them to read, why would books be different?
“We do it with music. We do it with video games, why are books different?
Szalai asks. “It makes absolutely no sense to me.”
Also these groups in opposition of the efforts to remove inappropriate sexual
material from public school libraries have made the argument such classic books
like “1984” by George Orwell or “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger have similar
references to sexual material, but Szalai says there is a descriptive difference.
“You can read a passage about a woman and a woman, and you can say that they
had sex, they made love. She kissed her down her neck and every area of her
body, but it doesn’t conjure up in the mind the same visual depiction as if you
are saying she was sucking on her left breast nipple and kissed her down her
belly to her nether regions and fireworks were exploding. There are different
levels,” Szalai said. “You can describe and say someone is having sex without
it being so descriptive. It really depends on the descriptiveness of the
passage. The classics don’t go into that full description of the act. The act
happens and it might be a little bit racy, but it’s not full on describing the
act.”
As far as Clyburn’s claim that South Carolina superintendent of education,
Ellen Weaver, is banning books about Rosa Parks, Szalai would like to see the
evidence of that.
“I’m absolutely flabbergasted, because I don’t know if he is just misinformed
or just flat out lying. When I first saw it, I was just at a loss of words,” Szalai
said. “I want him to present facts and if he can’t present them. I want a
public apology to Weaver.”
.JPG)
He lives in
Columbia, S.C.
What Say You? Got
something you'd like to say? Letter to the Editor (Guest Column), praises,
criticism, hate mail, news story tip or just want to say, howdy. Send them to
Tony@palmettoexaminer.com
POLITICS:
ELECTION 2026: S.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE: POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
 |
| State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R- Georgetown announces he's running for S.C. Attorney General in 2026. He is the first candidate to make an official announcement. Several others say they are considering. (Photo: Facebook) |
 |
| First Judicial Solicitor David Pascoe speaks to the Richland County Republican Party at their monthly meeting June 30. Pascoe is considering a run for attorney general. (Photo by: Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner) |
My wife, Chauna, and I are
praying for all those affected by the flooding of the Guadulupe River in Texas.
The Texas Hill Country holds a special place in our hearts. We
vacation in Canyon Lake, have friends in the area and many great memories. It
has been marked on our calendar to go back in November and make more memories.
All friends are accounted for except one, but I have no reason to believe he is
not ok.
The images of devastation coming from the Texas Hill country closely resemble
those we experienced in Columbia, S.C. during the 2015 flood and now is not the time for
your criticism or pointing fingers. It’s time for some compassion. There are
real families experiencing unimaginable loss of missing children, loved ones. That’s
real pain, real devastation. It’s time for prayer and a helping hand if you
can.
Just like South Carolina did in 2015, Texas is going to need volunteers, nonperishables, supplies and more. Support
where you can. Help make some good out of a bad situation.
I'm in the process of identifying some good local Texas charitable organizations on the ground responding to the crisis. I'll share that list when I get it. I know South Carolinians will join us in donating and sending support and relief to the great people of Texas.
God bless Texas. Prayers for Texas.
Tony J. Spain
Founding Editor/Palmetto Examiner
1. News and Views from Around the State: June 2, 2025, Palmetto Examiner, June 2, 2025
2. South Carolina sees major wins for pro-life movement: Abortions down more than 40 percent since 2023; Supreme Court rules in favor of S.C. defunding Planned Parenthood, by Tony J. Spain, July 3, 2025
3. How Palmetto Examiner Endorsed Candidates did Tuesday, by Tony J. Spain, June 6, 2025
4. Editorial: South Carolina Special Elections are tomorrow, Palmetto Examiner endorses two candidates: Oden and Ward, Palmetto Examiner, June 2, 2025
5. Opinion: Happy Father's Day: Fathers have a moral sacred duty to teach their sons divine masculinity, by Tony J. Spain, June 15, 2025
1. Commentary: Senate doesn't understand, I don't understand the complexity of the Loftis case, but what I do understand is this is a Constitutional power grab, by Tony J. Spain, April 21, 2025.
2. News and Views from Around the State: April 21, 2025, Palmetto Examiner, April 21
3. S.C. Senate vs Curtis Loftis in latest Columbia swamp fight that’s lasted more than a decade, Palmetto Examiner, Tuesday, April 8, 2025
4. Guest Columnist: Op-Ed Letter to Editor: Stop the Witch Hunt-Protect South Carolina’s financial future, by State Treasurer Curtis
Loftis, Wednesday March 19, 2025
5. Guest Columnist: Rep. Bill Taylor's Legislative Update, by Bill Taylor, May 1, 2025
 |
| South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was appointed to head the Homeland Security Advisory Council in January by President Donald Trump. The advisory council held their first meeting July 2 in Washington. |
Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
Monday, July 2, 2025
COLUMBIA, S.C. (PE)—South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was
appointed chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council by President Donald
Trump earlier this year and traveled to Washington to be sworn in and chair his
first meeting Wednesday.
The July 2 meeting agenda included the swearing in of its 22 new members and
discussions on the group’s focus and initiatives that will focus on military
operations, immigration, disaster response, airline safety and national security.
“I look forward to working to strengthen our border security, further enforce
immigration laws and advance President Trump’s America First Agenda,” McMaster
said.
The HSAC was established March 19, 2002, the advisory council leverages the
experience, expertise and national and global connections of its membership to
provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with real-time, real-world and
independent advice on homeland security operations.
In January the Trump administration’s DHS terminated all of its advisory committee members citing a ‘misuse of resources’ replacing the council with all
new members. This new-look, America First HSAC will draw upon a deep well of
public and private sector experience from homeland security experts committed
to fulfilling President Trump’s agenda.
“I am proud to announce the formation of my revamped
Homeland Security Advisory Council, which is comprised of Top Experts in their
field, who are highly respected by their peers,” Trump said in April. “I know
the new members will do an incredible job. Under secretary of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem’s leadership, HSAC will work hard on developing new policies and
strategies that will help secure our border, deport illegal criminal thugs,
stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs that are killing our citizens,
and make America safe again.”
.JPG)
He lives in
Columbia, S.C.
What Say You? Got
something you'd like to say? Letter to the Editor (Guest Column), praises,
criticism, hate mail, news story tip or just want to say, howdy. Send them to
Tony@palmettoexaminer.com
After the fireworks and the Independence Day
weekend celebrations comes to an end, there is one ministry in Little Mountain, S.C.
dedicated to healing wounded soldiers that defended the freedom we celebrate
and enjoy.
HomePlace is a 200-acre
retreat and outdoor sanctuary serving wounded soldiers and their families through
weekend farm retreats that offer emotional, physical and spiritual healing through
nature activities that include striper fishing on Lake Murray, hunting, home
cooked meals and a Sunday morning church service.
One of the missions of HomePlace is to help curb veteran suicide and high
veteran divorce rates. On average, 22 service members and veterans a day are
committing suicide. Veterans, as a group, have one of the highest divorce rates
in our nation.
“Either veterans or active duty are taking their life every day, and what we
are trying to do here is somehow stem the tide in these families falling apart
and these veterans taking their own lives,” Chuck McCallister, HomePlace
Ministries President told WLTX
news in a featured story you can watch on YouTube.
“It is our desire to help these wounded service members encounter Jesus, get a
well-deserved break and appreciation, to give them hope and end this devastating
trend,” according
to the HomePlace website.
This is just an amazing ministry and mission. I had no idea this place was
here. Thank you for the story WLTX.
Personally, I think we need more missions like this one. Did
you know even the Roman Empire had a purification ritual to cleanse and purge
the corruption of war?
Spiritual healing is highly important; without it you become
emotionally toxic and destructive.
There are old warrior quotes that reference living with the trauma of war. The
most famous is Plato, “Only the dead have seen the end of war. Others say
things like, “My past is an armor I cannot take off, no matter how many times
you tell me the war is over,” or “War has the last word,” but that isn’t true.
God has the last word. His message offers peace, forgiveness, healing from the
past, and a renewed purpose for a new future to those who are open and willing
to receive it.
Today we celebrate our independence from the tyranny of the
crown of England. On this day, 249 years ago, 56 colonists risked everything
with their signature on this declaration and committed treason against the King
of England in the name of freedom. An offense punishable by death.
Against all odds, they won the war and the greatest social
and government concept the world has ever seen, America, was born. Today we
celebrate their triumph over tyranny.
Four of those men were from South Carolina.
Edward Rutledge, Charleston, S.C., was the youngest
signatory of the Declaration of Independence and later became the 39th governor
of the State of South Carolina.
Thomas Heyward Jr., St. Luke's Parish, S.C. (Now known as
Jasper County), was the last delegate to sign the Declaration. He was captured
by the British in the siege of Charleston along with Rutledge and signatory
Arthur Middleton, Charleston, S.C., while serving in the South Carolina
militia. All three men were released in 1781 in a prisoner exchange.
Thomas Lynch Jr., Georgetown, S.C., was the second youngest
signatory by three months to Rutledge. He was commissioned as Company Commander
of the 1st South Carolina Regiment on June 12, 1775, but became ill to bilious
fever and was forced into retirement. After enduring an additional two years of
illness, he sailed to Europe in search of a more favorable climate to his
health. The ship was lost at sea, and
Lynch became the youngest signatory of the declaration to die at the age of 30.
The following is the Decleration of Independence they signed
that declares our God given rights.
Happy Independence Day!
The Declaration of Independence:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of
America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation
on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will
dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable
to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the
State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from
without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States;
for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing
his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies
without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and
superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent
to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for
any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by
Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and
enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already
begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of
their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all
ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have petitioned for
Redress in the most humble terms:
Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated
injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a
Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded
them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by
the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,
acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as
we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of
America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of
the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these
United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that
they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought
to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have
full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce,
and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes
and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration Independence
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George James Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
July 3, 2025
COLUMBIA, SC—(PE) The pro-life movement is stacking wins in the
abortion fight in South Carolina as new data released Tuesday from the South Carolina
Department of Health shows the number of South Carolinians getting abortions in
the Palmetto State is in major decline since 2023, and the U.S. Supreme court
ruled 6-3 in favor of South Carolina to defund Planned Parenthood last Thursday.
The data compiled by SCDHEC from August 2023 through all of 2024 shows the
South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the Fetal Heartbeat Act,
banning abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy, has led to the number of
women getting abortions in the Palmetto State to drop by more than 40 percent.
Overall, there were 8,187 abortions in 2023 vs 3,025 in 2024 for a difference
of more than 5,000 fewer abortions.
Of the total abortions carried out in South Carolina in 2024, 84% of them were
medication induced (AKA Abortion Pill). Additionally, 27% of abortions were
carried out for women between the ages of 20-24 in 2024.
South Carolina allowed abortions up to 20 weeks after pregnancy before the six
week ban making it one of the least restrictive states and an abortion destination
in the Southeast. After the ruling that was no longer the case.
Data released Tuesday from the Department of Public Health shows a 92% drop in
out-of-state residents getting abortions in South Carolina from 2023-2024.
The conservative Christian family advocacy group Palmetto Family Council
praised the numbers saying it showed the great effectiveness of the state’s
Fetal Heartbeat Law”
“There’s no point in traveling to South Carolina [for an abortion] now and that’s a positive,” Justin Hall, Palmetto
Family Council Communications Director said. “We don’t want to be viewed as a
state where I can go and end life of another human legally. We wanted to stop
that. We would like to see other states follow that mode, but certainly we’ve cut
down on that destination vacation spot.”
Planned Parenthood—among the groups that criticized the ban as prohibiting abortions
before the time many women know they are pregnant—said they have had to turn people
away and those people are going to North Carolina…
“75% of the people who come to see us have had to be turned away. They want an
abortion, they’ve already decided they want an abortion, but we are not able to
help them provide the care that we are able to provide because they are too far
along,” Vicki Ringer with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic said.
The organization said these restrictions have not ended abortions, just moved
them to other states.
“Half of all out-of-state abortions in North Carolina are from South Carolina.
So while the abortion ban in South Carolina has been very effective at shutting
down care for people here, as we have always said, people will find a way,”
Ringer said.
Data from the new DPH report runs through December 2024, with figures from 2025
to be released next summer.
You
can view the full 2024 report here.
In another big win for the pro-life movement, last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled
in favor of South Carolina’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood from
receiving Medicaid funding.
The ruling supports the state’s move to prevent taxpayer dollars from being
allocated to the organization.
You
can read the ruling here.
“Seven years ago, we took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend
South Carolina’s authority and values—and today, we are finally victorious,”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster wrote on social media. “The legality of
my executive order prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion
providers like Planned Parenthood has been affirmed by the highest court in the
land.”
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He lives in Columbia, S.C.
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