This week South Carolina State Representative Neal Collins apologized for voting for abortion bans that did not include life-of-the-mother exceptions after taking the time to educate himself about the tragic case of a 19-year-old constituent who almost lost her uterus, and her life, after her water broke at 15 weeks. While we applaud Collins for having the integrity to recant his extreme position, we are also deeply troubled by the fact that it took a medical catastrophe for Collins to fully grasp the consequences of his votes.

In 2022, every grown adult should have a decent enough grasp on reproductive health to understand that comprehensive abortion bans can and will ruin people’s lives through absolutely no fault of their own.