Proposed Legislation Banning Online Abortion Advice Seeks to Control Minds

The right to life movement, emboldened by its victory in Dobbs and reversal of Roe and Casey, now moves to impose its misogynistic Orwellian world further by limiting First Amendment rights. A South Carolina bill, S1373, drafted by the National Right to Life Committee, would outlaw websites that advise women on how to secure an abortion. The bill extends aiding and abetting an abortion to “providing information to a pregnant woman, or someone seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, internet, or any other mode of communication regarding self-administered abortions or the means to obtain an abortion, knowing that the information will be used, or is reasonably likely to be used, for an abortion.” Violating the law is a felony, punishable with up to 20 years in prison. The bill criminalizes “hosting or maintaining an internet website, providing access to an internet website, providing an internet service purposefully directed to a pregnant woman who is a resident of [South Carolina] that provides information on how to obtain an abortion, knowing the information will be used, or is reasonably likely to be used for an abortion.”

Women in South Carolina will be denied access to important information and could face liability for sharing information in a text message or email on how to obtain the so called “morning after pills.” If a New Jersey citizen provides that information, she could also be liable. A South Carolina mother cannot safely share information with her daughter about a late menstrual cycle. A best friend cannot provide information to her friend with an ectopic pregnancy for fear her phone data could be used as evidence. A woman cannot google information on using an intrauterine device. A wife with breast cancer cannot text her husband and apprise him of her medical options, i.e. chemotherapy or an abortion. Newscasters in South Carolina will be chilled from reporting on New Jersey’s efforts to help out-of-state women with information on reproductive health care. Facebook could be prosecuted for enabling the exchange of information about out of state clinics. Free speech is criminalized.