It’s going to be a busy week in the State House. Today we’ll highlight some opportunities to talk to your lawmakers about key legislative decisions involving our civil liberties.
Total abortion ban hearing Tuesday
On Tuesday, March 4, at 9 a.m. in Blatt Building (1105 Pendleton St., Columbia) Room 110, the House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee will discuss House Bill 3457, a total abortion ban. The meeting agenda is here, and the video livestream link is here.
If you would like to testify in person, we recommend arriving early to sign up on the public comment sheet. If you can’t make it to the hearing to testify, we’ve set up a message page where you can draft emails to the five committee members who will consider this bill on Tuesday:
This bill is unconstitutional and dangerous. It would worsen conditions in a state that already ranks among the most dangerous for maternal and infant health. It would go beyond the existing extreme abortion ban, deleting the so-called “fetal heartbeat” threshold and removing exceptions for people who are survivors of rape and incest. To quote Dr. Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, “The truth is, this ban is not about protecting anyone — it is about control. It is about stripping away the rights of individuals to make their own private medical decisions.”
DEI ban hearing ... also Tuesday
On Tuesday, March 4, 90 minutes after the House adjourns, the House Education and Public Works Committee will discuss House Bill 3927, a sweeping attack on programs of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This hearing will take place in the Blatt Building (1105 Pendleton St., Columbia), Room 110. You can see the agenda here and watch the livestream video here. If you would like to give testimony in person, please email Advocacy Director Josh Malkin at [email protected] and plan to arrive at the meeting room early in the afternoon.
In addition to prohibiting vaguely defined DEI programs at all state agencies, state agency contractors, K-12 public schools, and colleges, H. 3927 would direct the state attorney general to take "other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end” DEI programs. If you can’t make it to speak in person, we’ve set up a page where you can write to the House representative from your district asking them to reject this harmful and invasive bill:
Tuesday will be a long day, and ACLU-SC staff members will be at the State House the whole time. Look for us between hearings on the State House grounds, where we’ll be connecting and resting with advocates from across the state.
State-enforced Pledge of Allegiance recitation
Senate Bill 135 would require all South Carolina public school students in grades K-12 to salute the U.S. flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance once per school day. The Senate Education Subcommittee will consider this bill on Wednesday, March 5, at 9:30 a.m. in Gressette Building (1101 Pendleton St., Columbia) Room 207 (agenda here). The video livestream will be here.
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to look up your state senator’s contact information using the Find Your Legislators tool at scstatehouse.gov. Let your elected official know you’re a voter and you oppose this bill:
Unlike in other states like Florida and Utah that have adopted right-wing nationalist model policies, this bill would not even allow students to opt out of reciting the pledge with a note from their parents.
This bill is flatly unconstitutional, as established in the 1943 U.S. Supreme Court decision West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. To quote from our sibling organization the ACLU of West Virginia:
During the height of nationalism that swept the country during WWII, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought a lawsuit against the state Board of Education for the expulsion of two sisters who refused to salute the flag in accordance with their Jehovah’s Witness faith. The expulsions exposed the children to delinquency hearings and their parents to criminal prosecution. On June 14, 1943, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that forcing students to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
Ways to stay involved
Nearly every time we show up at the State House or a local public meeting, we meet South Carolinians who are taking action to defend civil liberties for the first time. We are glad to meet you wherever you are on your advocacy journey.
If you are interested in staying one step ahead of the politicians who want to strip away our rights, we have a few ways to get involved. To get occasional emails about civil liberties issues in our state, sign up for the email list at the top of our homepage:
To start writing messages to your lawmakers on the pressing civil liberties issues of our time, check out our message pages under the Take Action menu of our website:
To sign up as a volunteer and be notified when we need in-person support at hearings and other actions, fill out our Volunteer Interest Form and be sure to indicate which issues matter most to you:
