This site was designed for students at USC, but the information is useful for all people in South Carolina.
Wanted pregnancies should have emergency plans in place.
If you are more than 6 weeks pregnant, you will need to go to NC for abortion services up to 12 weeks pregnant. After 12 weeks, the closest locations for abortion services are in Virginia:
Although Virginia bans abortion after 26 weeks, 6 days, many providers stop offering abortion earlier in pregnancy.
If you are under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must give you permission to get an abortion in Virginia. If getting the permission of a parent or guardian is not an option for you, you can seek a judicial bypass.
Many college-age students find themselves pregnant with no idea what to do next. If you are pregnant, your options are parenting, adoption, or abortion. With the recent ruling against Roe, it is possible students in South Carolina will not have the choice of all three options, and those seeking abortions will have to look beyond our state border.
No one should have to suffer or die from their pregnancy. Below are resources if you need them. Please feel free to reach out if you need help interpreting this information. You are not alone.
Please know you can access condoms and information about sexual health at USC's Student Health Services.
Planned Parenthood in Columbia will continue to be a source of information and assistance, even if they are forced to stop providing abortions in the future. As of now, they are the only health center that can provide abortions in Columbia.
Exceptions are very limited.
South Carolina requires a pregnant person to get counseling from their abortion provider then wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. This waiting period can be waived if your health is at risk because of the pregnancy. When booking an appointment, ask health center staff if counseling can be done remotely (over the phone or online) so you can avoid making multiple trips.
Abortion is banned after 12 weeks of pregnancy in North Carolina.
North Carolina requires a pregnant person to get counseling from their abortion provider then wait 72 hours before getting an abortion. This waiting period can be waived if your health is at risk because of the pregnancy. When booking an appointment, ask health center staff if counseling can be done remotely (over the phone or online) so you can avoid making multiple trips.
How far along you are in pregnancy will determine what types of abortion are available to you.
Emergency contraception (the morning-after pill or EC) may be a good option for you if you’ve had unprotected penis-in-vagina sex within the last 5 days. EC prevents a pregnancy before it starts—it’s not the abortion pill and won’t end a pregnancy.
If you’ve taken a pregnancy test and it’s positive, you could end your pregnancy with the abortion pill or an abortion procedure. If it’s negative, repeat the test in 1 to 2 weeks if your period still hasn’t started.
Abortion services may be limited while providers figure out how to proceed legally.
Beware of crisis pregnancy centers. Local CPCs are listed here: www.exposefakeclinics.com/south-carolina Most crisis pregnancy centers aren’t legitimate medical clinics, so they don’t have to follow HIPAA and keep your information private, like most real health care providers do. These crisis pregnancy centers could even give your information to other anti-abortion organizations or use it to harass you. This could be especially concerning if you live in a state with anti-abortion laws.
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