A revolutionary bill has popped up in the US: if a state wishes to ban abortion, then they must cover the medical bills required for giving birth, as well as compensating the child’s costs until the age of 18.
That’s the idea behind the South Carolina Pro Birth Accountability Act, pre-filed by Democratic Senator Mia McLeod on Wednesday, December 11.
Also known as SB 928, the bill proposes that lawmakers hellbent on forcing women to carry pregnancies to term after six weeks must offer extensive compensation.
What good, rational reason is there to oppose abortion? In Republican states, such as South Carolina, institutionalised religion is a key foundation in the arguments for ‘pro-life’.
However, as the bill astutely points out: if the state considers the life of a six-week-old embryo to be more important than that of a pregnant woman, surely the soon-to-be mum should be compensated for being a gestational surrogate for South Carolina?
McLeod told the Post and Courier:
It’s not a tongue-in-cheek kind of bill. It took a lot of thought and a lot of preparation because no other state has introduced anything remotely similar and it certainly warrants a very thoughtful and deliberate discussion and debate, and I hope that we’ll have that. Every year, there is some bill that seeks to take from women. This is a way to give them a real chance at life.
Only last month, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted 9-6 along party lines on a bill that would prohibit abortion at the point the first heartbeat is detected by ultrasound – which can be as early as five weeks.
Bear in mind that people who commission surrogates in the US pay women to carry a fetus to term. Ergo, the state should surrender to the same process as a surrogate if they’re ordering women to endure an entire pregnancy.
As written in the bill:
As a matter of constitutional law, a state may not force a citizen to serve in any capacity without fair payment or to take a citizen’s property without just compensation… a woman’s uterus is not unlike rental property, as a commissioning couple agrees to pay a gestational surrogate certain compensation for carrying a fetus to term and giving birth to a child.
As one would expect, there’s some resistance to such an idea. State Representative John McCravy, a lead sponsor of the six-week abortion ban, said he wouldn’t support McLeod’s bill – obviously.
McCravy said:
There are many crisis pregnancy centers across our state that already offer help and assistance with pre-natal, adoption and/or child care. Not only is material and spiritual help already out there, but I believe most people recognize the infinite blessing of life given by our Creator.
While the bill has little-to-no chance of passing in South Carolina, it’s hoped it will provoke conversation in the state – and hopefully nationwide – about what it means to be ‘pro-life’ as a lawmaker.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.