South Carolina Lawmakers Spent Hours Arguing How Many Reproductive Rights Women Should Have Left

"Two amendments were ultimately added to the bill following the debate on the House floor: One would threaten up to life in prison for giving abortion pills to a pregnant person without their knowledge. (Administering drugs without consent is already a crime, but this amendment dramatically escalates the penalty.) The other makes it illegal to raise funds or distribute money to buy abortion pills, potentially destroying the crucial and life-saving work of abortion funds."

"The core of the bill would reclassify both mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances-a category typically reserved for addictive drugs like Valium or Xanax. (The reality is that both abortion pills are safer than Tylenol and Viagra.) If it becomes law, a person could face up to five years in prison if they have abortion pills without a prescription from a doctor in the state."

"It also threatens providers and doctors outside the state with prison time and fines if they send abortion pills to a South Carolinian to terminate their pregnancy, directly targeting shield laws, which protect doctors and health care providers in blue states from being prosecuted for providing abortion care in abortion-banned states. It's already illegal for a doctor in South Carolina to mail a patient abortion pills (the pills must be dispensed in person),"

H4760 reclassifies mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances and criminalizes possession of abortion pills without an in-state prescription, with penalties up to five years. The bill adds provisions that criminally target out-of-state providers who mail pills to South Carolinians and threatens fines and prison time for such actions, directly challenging shield laws. Two amendments escalate consequences: one proposes life imprisonment for administering abortion pills without a pregnant person's knowledge, and another bans raising or distributing funds to purchase abortion pills, potentially crippling abortion fund operations.

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