COLUMBIA -- A bill that would allow pregnant women convicted of non-violent crimes to defer their prison sentence until after they give birth recently passed the S.C. Senate.
The CARE Act would allow judges to exercise discretion to delay incarceration for pregnant women who do not pose a danger to themselves or the community by placing them on pre-incarceration probation.
The deferment would last throughout the pregnancy and continue for no less than 12 weeks and up to one year after childbirth, at the judge's discretion.
"This is something that certainly will increase maternal outcomes and baby outcomes," said lead sponsor Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, D-Columbia.
The bill passed by a 31-3 margin April 16 with the support of many conservative Republicans.
It still has to get through the House to become law but Devine is optimistic.
Under the measure, while the accused is in the system all fines and fees would be waived and she would be required to receive prenatal and postpartum care. The court could also require alcohol and drug testing and treatment as a condition of release.
The program is voluntary. If the woman has a miscarriage or decides to end the pregnancy, she would have three days to report it to a jail or prison to serve her sentence. She could face misdemeanor charges if she fails to do so.
Senate approval of the measure came during a rare moment of unity for anti-abortion and pro-choice groups in the Statehouse, many of whom spoke during subcommittee hearings in favor of its passage.
Hayden Laye with Pro-Life Greenville previously told senators on Feb. 19 that the bill will reduce the chances of a woman seeking an abortion, and that "the preservation of the bond between mother and child, both during and immediately following the pregnancy, is a critical moment."
"We were very happy to cross the aisle and cross ideological lines to stand with the ACLU of South Carolina and WREN in support of this legislation," Laye said via social media after the bill passed in subcommittee. "It's a great step for South Carolina."
Courtney Thomas, the advocacy director for the South Carolina American Civil Liberties Union, said an eventual passage of the bill would means the legislature is protecting the dignity of pregnant women, even those who have committed a crime.
"We recognize that some of the birth outcomes in our state have really put South Carolina at the top of some pretty terrible list in terms of maternal mortality and infant mortality," she said after the bill passed the Senate on April 16. "So anything that we can do to try to make sure parents and babies are safe in the process of pregnancy as well as giving birth, I think that is something that anyone would support."
Devine said the only opposition to the bill came over concerns about sentence avoidance.
"It doesn't mean that it's a get out of jail free card," she said. "It's a deferral for the health and well-being of the mom and the child."
Part of the bill would allow for reporting to see how many pregnancies and deliveries are happening in jails in the Palmetto State. Devine said there isn't uniform reporting on pregnancies of incarcerated women, and while there have been studies done nationally, South Carolina's county jails don't track it.
Devine said the bill came about when she did an executive leadership program at Harvard University before serving in the Statehouse. One of the women in her program was formerly incarcerated and had her son in the program, and she advocated for legislation that would help mothers and babies bond outside of prison.
In 2020, South Carolina passed a law that made it illegal to cuff pregnant women with leg, waist or ankle restraints. Under this law, no restraints are allowed during labor, delivery or postpartum recovery, unless there’s a risk of the woman hurting herself or others.
"Given some of the negative outcomes that can happen for people who experience pregnancy in prison or even giving birth in prison, we support this bill because it removes that from the equation," advocacy director Thomas said. "It's common sense."