South Carolina lieutenant governor Kevin Bryant is ripping “Republican” lawmakers in the state’s House of Representatives for passing a budget that includes funding for abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
“On average, 16 babies are aborted every day in South Carolina,” Bryant said in a fundraising pitch from his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. “That means approximately 80 babies were murdered this week while the legislature debated its budget. But there was not one voice on the House floor fighting for the lives of those babies.”
Bryant says it will be a different story when the state’s 2018-2019 spending plan makes its way to the State Senate, where he presides in a largely ceremonial role (but has the ability to impact procedural moves).
“I pledged a year ago to ratify no more budgets that sent a penny of your taxpayer dollars to facilities in South Carolina that perform abortions,” Bryant said. “At first, I was accused of pulling a ‘political stunt.’ But there is nothing political about the life of a child.”
According to the 51-year-old pharmacist and former state senator, he is the leading advocate for life in the Palmetto State – and has been for years.
“For twelve years, I fought tirelessly for the unborn in the South Carolina Senate,’ Bryant said. “We passed the 24-hour waiting period legislation, the bill requiring an ultrasound before an elective abortion, and I am the original sponsor of the current personhood bill.”
The personhood bill is not without controversy, though – as the version Bryant advanced failed to include exemptions for rape, incest or danger to the life of a mother. It could have also inadvertently wiped out life by banning in In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in South Carolina.
Nonetheless, it has been backed by Bryant’s GOP rivals – including Lowcountry labor attorney Catherine Templeton, Upstate businessman and retired Marine John Warren and incumbent “Republican” governor Henry McMaster.
Fortunately the version of the bill (S. 217) that cleared the S.C. Senate judiciary committee did include an exemption for the life of the mother and IVF reproductive technology.
(Click to view)
(Via: S.C. Governor)
“Being pro-life is not a political issue but rather a moral obligation,” he said.
Whether you agree with Bryant’s staunch advocacy or not (we do), it is clearly impacting the debate within the GOP primary – which is kicking into high gear as the filing period for the June 2018 elections opens
In fact, many believe McMaster’s aggressive pro-life moves are a response to Bryant’s candidacy – particularly an executive order he issued in August directing state agencies to “cease providing state or local funds, whether via grant, contract, state-administered federal funds, or any other form” to abortion providers.
“This announcement will be used by McMaster to blunt Bryant’s social conservative support – especially in the vote-rich Upstate region of South Carolina,” we wrote at the time.
We suspect it will be … but clearly the S.C. House of Representatives didn’t get the memo …
Our view? As we’ve stated repeatedly, this news site is adamantly pro-life – and any measure that blocks (or attempts to block) funding for abortion providers will always garner our support. In fact, this is precisely the sort of action we urged former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley to take while she was in office (she never took it, though).
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