Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano accessed Twitter on Wednesday to criticize a Statehouse proposal that would give her department the names of any rape or incest victims who had abortions.
The amendment, part of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill, would require any doctor who performs an abortion on an adult patient who reports that the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest to provide the patient’s contact information to the local sheriff on 24 hours. Currently, doctors can refer victims to law enforcement or recovery services, but they would not do so without the patient’s consent.
Although the addition was approved, opponents say the reporting requirement would further traumatize survivors of sexual violence, who do not feel they can safely report the crime, and potentially dissuade them from seeking medical attention.
“It is absolutely crazy to victimize the victim again,” Graziano tweeted in response to the amendment. “Sheriffs shouldn’t be policing a woman’s body, religious beliefs or personal health decisions.”
The Senate must pass the full bill and then hand it over to the House for plenary action and committee before falling to Governor Henry McMaster’s desk. The governor, who supports the measure, said he would sign it.
Graziano, who earlier this month became the first woman in the state of Palmetto and the first openly gay sheriff, campaigned with promises of transparency and respect from the authorities.
“I may be a new sheriff, but I’m not new to being a woman,” added Graziano in a tweet with the hashtag #mybodymyrights.
SC Senate majority leader Shane Massey, one of the lawmakers who proposed the amendment, refused to respond directly to Graziano’s comments.
But he noted that the measure does not directly force women to do anything. The doctor would report the rape or incest, and women would not be required to press charges or take any action if they so decided.
“The reason behind the amendment is that the state has a strong interest in investigating, prosecuting and preventing violent crime, and I think rape and incest are violent crimes,” said Massey, R-Edgefield.
Massey also pointed out that, for years, state law has already required abortion providers to report to the authorities when they perform abortions on minors as a result of rape or incest.
“This extends to adult women,” said Massey.
Charleston is one of the few counties in the state of Palmetto with abortion providers and has a victim-focused program for nurses to collect forensic evidence from victims of sexual violence at South Carolina Medical University.
Lowcountry leaders are not alone in denouncing the movement. The SC Coalition against domestic violence and sexual assault issued a statement saying that the requirement to report would further remove victims’ autonomy “by removing doctor-patient confidentiality and replacing it with fear and intimidation”.
The amendment was the culmination of hours of debate on Tuesday, when several Republicans spoke out against abortion, but were hesitant to support a bill without exceptions for rape. Legislation prohibits abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which usually begins within 6 to 8 weeks of pregnancy.
Jamie Lovegrove contributed to this report.
Talk to Sara Coello at 843-937-5705 and follow her on Twitter @smlcoello.