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South Carolina

An illustration shows a police officer in a blue uniform standing inside a dimly lit kitchen holding a walkie-talkie while looking outside the window. Outside the window, a woman is kneeling, with pale yellow light on her as she looks at a small grave.
News April 2
These States Have Investigated Miscarriages and Stillbirths as Crimes
A recent arrest in Georgia highlights the criminal suspicion that surrounds pregnancy loss in several states, experts say.
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ABILENE - TX October 17th, 2024: Portrait of Doctor James Williams Taken in side of his office on Wednesday, October 17th
Death Sentences February 4
Why This Physician Testifies in Favor of the Firing Squad
James Williams is an ER doctor, a hunter, a gunshot victim — and the go-to expert for death row prisoners seeking an alternative to lethal injection.
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Feature September 26, 2024
The Future of Prisons?
Inspired by Germany, South Carolina let prisoners design their own units, write house rules and settle their own disputes. Then came politics.
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Susan Horton, a White woman wearing a black tank top, arranges her children’s toys on top of a table.
Feature September 9, 2024
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
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A medical resident, who is sitting on a stool in front of a desk, gives a woman medication to terminate her pregnancy.
Closing Argument December 9, 2023
What the End of Roe Looks Like in Real Time
The ripple effects of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision wind their way through state and local governments.
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Jessica Jackson goes through a pile of photos and paperwork that documented her life before and after her parental rights were taken away, while sitting in her living room in Conway, S.C. on August 11, 2023. Jackson tested positive for drugs while she was pregnant with her daughter. Under South Carolina policies, she ended up losing her parental rights and was placed on a child abuse registry. Only one of her children lives nearby, with the others living in other states.
Feature December 4, 2023
Pregnant Women in South Carolina Face Severe Consequences for Using Drugs
Some doctors and lawyers contend the prosecutions are based on faulty science.
By Jocelyn Grzeszczak and Eva Herscowitz, The Post and Courier
A White woman with light blonde hair looks at a photo she is holding in her hands of her daughter in a blue graduation gown.
Feature July 25, 2023
These States Are Using Fetal Personhood to Put Women Behind Bars
Hundreds of women who used drugs while pregnant have faced criminal charges — even when they deliver healthy babies.
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A woman with light-toned skin and a gray T-shirt is seated while hugging a young girl with a medium-toned skin as a young girl with light-toned skin plays on a patio.
Feature September 1, 2022
They Lost Their Pregnancies. Then Prosecutors Sent Them to Prison.
Dozens of women who used drugs while pregnant have faced criminal charges. Experts expect even more cases now that Roe has been overturned.
By , Brianna Bailey, and Amy Yurkanin
A White woman with long brown hair looks at the camera.
Feature September 1, 2022
She Lost Her Baby, Then Her Freedom
In its war on drugs, Alabama targets moms.
By Amy Yurkanin
A black and white photo shows a black chair draped with a hood which Gilmore wore during the execution. The upper right part of the chair back has bullet holes. The chair is surrounded with sandbags.
Death Sentences April 8, 2022
The Return of the Firing Squad?
With a scarcity of lethal injection drugs, South Carolina has brought back an archaic execution method. In other states, men on death row are asking for it.
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