Palmetto State Abortion Fund

Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 September 4th, 2025

Palmetto State Abortion Fund Condemns S.323: A Dangerous Total Abortion Ban Threatening the Rights and Lives of South Carolinians

Columbia, S.C. — The Palmetto State Abortion Fund (PSAF) strongly opposes Senate Bill 323 (“Unborn Child Protection Act”), introduced by Senators Cash, Rice, and Garrett. If enacted, this legislation would impose one of the most extreme abortion bans across the nation, criminalizing patients, families, and providers while endangering the health and freedoms of all South Carolinians.

S.323 goes far beyond existing restrictions and includes provisions that would:

  • Eliminate exceptions for rape, incest, miscarriage, and fatal fetal anomalies.
  • Impose felony charges and up to 30 years in prison on anyone providing abortion care.
  • Criminalize sharing abortion information online, running a resource website, providing doula support, or offering a referral.
  • Make it a crime to help a pregnant minor travel out of state for care, even with parental support.
  • Require schools to show Baby Olivia, an anti-abortion propaganda video produced by Live Action, as part of sex education.
  • Threatens access to IVF and contraception by defining a “person” as a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus—granting full legal rights from the moment of conception.
  • Allow individuals who receive abortion care to be charged with homicide and potentially face the death penalty.
  • Open the door to lawsuits and bounties by enabling civil suits against providers and anyone who assists in abortion care, including “wrongful death” lawsuits for aborted fetuses—even in cases of rape.

“This bill is not about protecting life, it is about political control over our most private decisions,” said Carey Shofner,  Board President of Palmetto State Abortion Fund. “S.323 would turn neighbors into criminals, strip families of their autonomy, and make South Carolina a testing ground for extremist policies that could spread across the country.”

PSAF emphasizes that abortion is essential healthcare and that attacks on abortion access disproportionately harm low-income communities, young people, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and South Carolina’s rural residents, who are already being impacted by the 14 counties without access to gynecological or obstetric care. 

“This legislation makes clear just how far anti-abortion politicians are willing to go—even putting access to IVF and contraception at risk,” said Ashlyn Preaux, Executive Director of the Palmetto State Abortion Fund. “We are calling on South Carolinians to raise their voices and push back against this cruel and dangerous agenda being driven by a small group of extremists. We know this does not reflect the values or beliefs of the majority in our state.”

Palmetto State Abortion Fund provides direct financial and logistical support for people seeking abortion care in the Southeast. As legal attacks escalate, community support is more critical than ever.

Call to Action:

  • Sign our petition https://tinyurl.com/mpca98hs
  • If you are interested in testifying, reach out to us via social media. 
  • Donate to PSAF. Abortion funding requests are still coming in. We can spend more time fighting this bill if we aren’t having to constantly fundraise. 
  • Stay up to date by following us, WREN, PPVSAT, and the ACLUSC on socials.