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TechnoratiCOLUMBIA, S.C. - Women seeking an abortion in South Carolina would have to wait at least 24 hours after their ultrasound under a bill given initial approval Wednesday by a House subcommittee.
The measure would increase the waiting time from an hour to a day.
Proponents said it would bring South Carolina in line with other states that have waiting periods and give women time to reflect on the decision. Critics said requiring two trips creates a burden, especially for poor, rural women.
The proposal follows nearly two years of debate on whether to require women to view an ultrasound image before getting an abortion. Under a compromise passed last year, women must be asked whether they want to look at the screen during the procedure or see a printed image - and sign a form verifying they were given the option.
The compromise kept in the law a 60-minute wait already required after women are handed brochures about fetal development and abortion alternatives.
"But one hour is not enough time to think about it," said Rep. Greg Delleney, the sponsor of last year's law and the current proposal. "I'm trying to give the chance for a child waiting to be born to have a birthday."
He said he didn't make it an issue last year because he didn't want to further bog down the law's passage.
At least 25 other states require waiting times for abortions, and all but two set them at 24 hours - Indiana, the other, sets an 18-hour minimum, said Oran Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council.
Several women who had abortions testified they would have changed their mind if they'd had more time to think it through.
"I went blindly, fearfully into a clinic," said Carla Harvey, a nurse and a volunteer at Lowcountry Crisis Pregnancy Center in Charleston. "They're in a waiting room. They're numb. They're afraid. ... Time really does make a difference."
Advocates also noted South Carolina requires a daylong wait for a marriage license, and patients have to undergo pre-counseling or classes for many other surgeries, such as for obese patients and hip replacements.
"A waiting period before a final decision regarding abortion is far more critical than any other waiting period," said Holly Gatling, executive director of South Carolina Citizens for Life. "Before making such a grave and permanent decision, women deserve a 24-hour waiting period that safeguards their dignity, their health and their right to choose life."
The South Carolina Coalition for Healthy Families opposed the measure, calling it extreme and said it could require taking two days off of work and finding transportation. The state needs to focus instead on reducing unintended pregnancies by funding preventive health care, contraception and comprehensive education beyond abstinence only, said coalition lobbyist Brandi Parrish.
Women must make appointments to get an abortion and already spend time agonizing over the decision, she said.
"They're not walking in the door 10 minutes after making the phone call," she said. "It's not like they're going and getting their hair done in the afternoon."
Opponents at the hearing included two anti-abortion activists, who want abortion outlawed.
"It's not God's will to wait 24 hours and then kill the baby," said Steve Lefemine, director of Columbia Christians for Life, who can frequently be seen at the Statehouse carrying posters of aborted fetuses.
The measure stipulates the 24-hour waiting period applies only if an ultrasound is performed. But abortion rights advocates have testified that clinics already perform ultrasounds in nearly all cases to verify how far along the pregnancy is, since state law requires abortion doctors to tell women the likely age of their fetus.
The bill now goes to the full House Judiciary Committee.
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