By Emery Glover | January 29, 2021 at 12:06 AM EST - Updated January 29 at 9:08 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Before the Fetal Heartbeat Bill passed in the South Carolina Senate, Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia, addressed the Senate chamber.
During her speech on Thursday, McLeod revealed she is a sexual assault survivor. “I hadn’t planned to speak again today. But after hearing the Senator from Anderson talk about how grateful some women are to have been raped yesterday, I could barely contain myself. Clearly, he has never been raped. It’s probably safe to assume that the 40 men in this body and the 100 men of the SC House haven’t either.
“Well, I have. You’re looking at a sexual assault survivor who, like most women and girls, didn’t tell my parents and didn’t report the crime to law enforcement. Not because I didn’t want to and definitely not because I didn’t need to. But, because I was afraid to.” McLeod lashed out against the bill saying it takes away the rights, liberties, freedoms, and choices of women and girls.
“We’ve heard enough of the hypocrisy. We’ve seen the props and the pics. And yes, we know we’re outnumbered now in this Chamber, just like you’re now outnumbered beyond this chamber. But what I can’t get past is the sheer audacity that this male-dominated legislature has to force women and girls of this state to report this crime to our male-dominated law enforcement agencies...knowing that both are ill-equipped to handle the magnitude of that responsibility.” The bill passed 30-13 and will now head to the House, where it’s likely to pass.