... unless the GOP-majority SC Senate passes bill by June 1st
The Republicans in South Carolina are the majority in the SC House (74 R's to 50 D's).
The Republicans in South Carolina are the majority in the SC Senate (26 R's to 20 D's).
The Republicans in South Carolina occupy the Governor's office, the Lt. Governor's office, and the Attorney General's office.
Please call Senator Mike Fair (R-Greenville), Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg),and Senator Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) to work for passage of the Right to Life Act in the SC Senate ! (see the Senators' contact info below)
Please call Republican Governor Mark Sanford to use his influence and the 'bully pulpit' of his office, to pass the Right to Life Act (phone 803-734-2100,fax 803-734-0546 and fax 803-734-9413)
The Right to Life Act of SC was first introduced in the SC House in 1998. It has been an active bill in the SC House every year since, with public hearings in 2001,2004, and 2005. It took 7 years to get the bill through the SC House in 2005, even though the Republicans have been in the majority in the SC House for 10 years since (and including) 1995. The current House version is H.3213.
www.scstatehouse.net/sess116_2005-2006/bills/3213.htm
The Right to Life Act of SC was first introduced in the SC Senate in 1998. It was not introduced again until 7 years later, in 2005. After H.3213 passed the SC House in April 2005, there were two public hearings on the Right to Life Act in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee of Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg) in May 2005. That is the last action that Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee has taken on the bill. The current Senate version is S.111.
www.scstatehouse.net/sess116_2005-2006/bills/111.htm
Both H.3213 and S.111 are in Senator Ritchie's Subcommitee, where four of the five State Senators who can vote on the bill are Republicans. The other three Republicans beside Senator Ritchie are: Senator Luke Rankin (R-Conway), Senator Randy Scott (R-Summerville), and Senator Glenn McConnell(R-Charleston). Senator McConnell has a vote according to Senate rulesbecause he is the chairman of the full Senate Judiciary Committee.
The 2006 regular session of the SC Legislature is scheduled to end on June 1, 2006.
Incredibly, even though the SC House version (H.3213) of the Right to Life Act of SC passed the SC House on Second Reading (with 52 co-sponsors; 47 R's and 5 D's), on April 13, 2005 by a vote of 95 to 18 (albeit with a fatal flaw rape exception amendment that must be removed), the bill has gone nowhere in the SC Senate after two hearings in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee chaired by Senator Jim Ritchie (R). It has now sat in Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee for over one year, and there are less than 30 days left in the 2006 session. If nothing changes, the bill will die June 1st, and the 6,500+ children murdered every year in South Carolina by surgical abortion, primarily at the state's three abortion centers in Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston, will have to wait until the 2007 session for new legislation to pass, at the earliest.
25 children a week die in Columbia,
45 children a week die in Greenville,
55 children a week die in Charleston,
and SC pro-life Senators want to wait another year until the 2007 legislative session to establish justice for pre-birth human beings and protect their lives:
www.siliconvalley.com/mld/thestate/news/local/14134771.htm
The State, Columbia, SC - Posted on Sun, Mar. 19, 2006
“We (supporters of limits) basically got together and decided abortion wouldn’t be an issue this year,” Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, said of supporters of limiting abortion. “Had we known South Dakota would have done what they did, there would have been thoughtful consideration on testing the waters here, I assure you.”
The time is now to pass legislation to ban child-murder, not a year from now !
The South Carolina Senate has 46 members: 26 Republicans and 20 Democrats. There are five Senators who may vote on Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee; of the five, four of them are Republicans. So let us make no mistake about this. It is the party in power, the party in the majority, the Republicans, who are refusing to pass this bill, who are refusing to "establish justice" for the unborn, and protect these children who cannot speak for themselves.
Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee is part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Glenn McConnell, who may also, according to Senate rules, vote on Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee. Senator McConnell is one of the four Republicans on Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee that can vote on this bill. The other two are Senator Randy Scott and Senator Luke Rankin.
If something is to be done to protect the unborn this year instead of waiting until next year, there are only 27 days left in the session to act.
What can you do ? Call, write, or fax Republican Senators Mike Fair, Jim Ritchie, and Glenn McConnell as soon as possible. Ask them not to allow the bill to die, but instead to work for its passage, beginning with a vote in Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee, and then a vote in Senator McConnell's full Judiciary Committee, and then a vote on the floor of the full SC Senate (Senator McConnell, perhaps the most influential Senator in SC, is also President, Pro Tempore, of the full46-member SC Senate).
Call or fax Republican Governor Mark Sanford as soon as possible. Ask him to use his influence and his 'bully pulpit' as Governor (as he has done on other issues), to take action on this, his second most important duty as Governor, the prevention of the shedding of innocent blood in South Carolina. (His first duty a Governor is to acknowledge and honor the God of the Bible - Psalm 2).
Children in South Carolina continue to die at the rate of 125 per week, and waiting until 2007 while children are being murdered now is unacceptable !
Please phone, write, or fax these three key REPUBLICAN STATE SENATORS below, and ask them not to accept allowing the Right to Life Act of SC to die, but instead continuing to work for a vote on the bill in Senator Ritchie's Subcommittee, and then a vote in Senator McConnell's full Judiciary Committee, and then a vote on the floor of the full SC Senate, BEFORE the session ends on June 1st:
1. Senator Mike Fair (R-Greenville), the Senate sponsor of the bill:
District 6 - Greenville Co. (H) P.O. Box 14632, Greenville, 29610
Bus. (864)246-4257 Home (864) 246-4257
(C) 211 Gressette Bldg., Columbia, 29202
Bus. (803)212-6420 Home
Fax - 803-212-6299
(include the Senator’s name on whatever you fax !)
2. Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg), chairman of the Subcommitee:
District 13 - Greenville, Spartanburg & Union Cos. (H) 302 South Pine St., Spartanburg, 29302
Bus. (864)585-2275 Home (864)585-6047 (C) 608 Gressette Bldg., Columbia, 29202
Bus. (803) 212-6008/6032 Fax - 803-212-6299
(include the Senator’s name on whatever you fax !)
3. Senator Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston), chairman of the full Committee:
District 41 Charleston County (H) 27 Bainbridge Dr., Charleston, 29407
Bus. (843)747-7554 Home (843)571-3921
(C) 101 Gressette Bldg., Columbia, 29202 / Bus. (803) 212-6610
Fax - 803-212-6606/6600
______________________________________________
Steve Lefemine, pro-life missionary
dir., Columbia Christians for Life
Columbia, South Carolina
www.RighttoLifeActofSC.net
http://www.christianlifeandliberty.net/ (click on 'RTL ACT of SC' button)
May 5, 2006
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