Restrictions on Low-Income Women's Access to Abortion

South Carolina prohibits public funding for abortion for women eligible for state medical assistance for general health care unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the life of a woman endangered by a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest reported to the police unless the woman is unable to report for physiological or psychological reasons.  S.C. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., Medicaid Provider Manual, §§ 2-102-103 (Rev. Nov. 1, 2008), at http://www.dhhs.state.sc.us/internet/pdf/manuals/Physicians/Manual.pdf.

A statute provides that no state or Medicaid funds shall be used to perform abortions, except for those abortions authorized by federal law under the Medicaid program. S.C. Code Ann. § 1-1-1035 (Enacted 1976).  Federal law currently requires states participating in the Medicaid program to fund abortion in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest.