SC anti-abortion activist charged with disobeying city coronavirus stay-at-home order
COLUMBIA The worst pandemic in a century added a new twist to the decades-old debate over abortions in South Carolina: Whether government orders meant to halt the spread of COVID-19 override First Amendment rights.
The city of Columbia says yes. An anti-abortion group argues no.
On Tuesday, Mark Baumgartner and members of his A Moment of Hope nonprofit gathered outside Columbias Planned Parenthood clinic, as they have regularly for seven years, in an effort to dissuade women walking in from having an abortion. He insists they do so reverentially handing out gift bags of pamphlets and snacks.
What they did differently for the coronavirus, he said, was stand at least 25 feet apart for social distancing.
Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/health/covid19/sc-anti-abortion-activist-charged-with-disobeying-city-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order/article_6a87cb34-78ef-11ea-92a1-b76a9bc2ab09.html