South Carolina Establishes Waiting Period

SuzyB reports that South Carolina has passed a law requiring abortion businesses to give their clients accurate information, and 24 hours to contemplate it, before an abortion.

The new law requires that a woman considering an abortion be given a full day to review materials objectively explaining what an abortion is and how to determine the age of an unborn fetus.

“I believe life is sacred, and in the debate over when life begins, I think we as a society should always err on the side of life,” Gov. Sanford said. “Given current federal law, I think it’s imperative that a decision of this magnitude only be made with the fullest and most accurate knowledge available. It’s our hope and expectation that this new law results in a substantial decrease in the number of abortions carried out in South Carolina.”

Well done, South Carolina pro-lifers! S.C. now joins more than 20 other states that have enacted common-sense informed consent laws protecting a woman’s right to know.

One minor criticism: I wish that Governor Sanford had chosen his words more carefully. Abortion advocates often interpret “life is sacred” as a religious statement. In our secular culture, it’s really become synonymous with “life is precious” or “life is valuable.” I’ve even heard pro-life atheists use the term “sacred” in this way. But it’s not the best vocabulary to use, in my humble opinion.

A couple of housekeeping notes:
1) M.R. Newman’s weekly news briefs are moving from Friday to Thursday, beginning tomorrow.
2) I will be unavailable this weekend. If anyone would like to guest blog, please email info@secularprolife.org.