Vaccines keep our children safe
DR. MARTHA EDWARDS MAY 4, 2026 6:30 AM
We write as 730 pediatricians across South Carolina, members of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who have spent the past months navigating a reality many of us were trained to prevent: a significant measles outbreak in our Upstate communities.
This outbreak began in a small, close-knit community shaped by a history that includes deep and understandable mistrust of government institutions.
We have cared for children from this community before and have seen preventable diseases surface in isolated cases. Until now, those cases did not spread to surrounding communities because surrounding immunization rates were high.
What has changed are exposure rates and uncertainty. Parents today are navigating an overwhelming and contradictory stream of information about vaccines, from social media feeds, influencers, and even political voices.
In exam rooms across our state, we are seeing something new: not outright opposition in most cases, but confusion. Parents who want to do the right thing are no longer sure what the right thing is, and the result is declining vaccination rates.
We want to be clear about one thing: the majority of South Carolina parents continue to support routine childhood vaccinations.
But it’s not enough.
The measles vaccine is highly effective: about 93% after the first dose and 97% after the second.
But no vaccine is perfect. In a room of 100 vaccinated people, a very small number may not be fully protected. They rely on the rest of us to reduce the chance that the virus ever enters the room.
When vaccination rates remain above approximately 95%, measles struggles to spread, and exposure becomes unlikely. But when rates fall below that threshold, the virus finds opportunity.
And then there are those who cannot be vaccinated at all: infants too young for their first dose. Children undergoing chemotherapy. Patients with transplanted organs or complex genetic conditions that weaken their immune systems.
These children don’t have the luxury of choice. They are depending on the rest of us.
Some of us have stood alongside families at the bedside of children with measles pneumonia, struggling to breathe. Others have helped care for children with measles encephalitis, dangerous inflammation of the brain that can leave lasting damage. These are not mild illnesses. They are frightening, fast-moving, and, in some cases, life-threatening.
For most of us, these have been the first measles cases we have ever seen in our careers, a testament to how successful vaccination has been over the past several decades.
It is different when you see it up close, and our recent proximity inspires us to speak out. We urge parents to turn not to the loudest voices online, but to the people who know their children and have dedicated their lives to caring for them: their pediatricians.
We care about your child, your neighbor’s child, and about the children we may never meet, but are still part of the same community.
When those of us who can be vaccinated choose to do so, we create a shield that protects the most vulnerable. We reduce the chances that a preventable disease becomes a crisis. We preserve the progress that generations before us worked hard to achieve, and we keep kids out of hospitals and in the community where they can thrive, grow, play, and learn.
This outbreak has reminded us how quickly that progress can be tested.
It has also reminded us of something else: that when communities come together with clear information, mutual trust, and a commitment to protecting one another, we can stop the spread.
We remain ready to do that work alongside you.
Dr. Martha Edwards serves as president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She holds a degree in neuroscience from Brown University and completed medical school and residency at the University of Virginia. She was a pediatrician in Rock Hill for more than 25 years before retiring. She lives in Greenville.
When your credentials do not protect you: a social worker’s perspective on a SC mother’s death
SYDNEY HART MAY 1, 2026 4:47 PM
It was an ordinary day when I got a notification on my phone from a local news outlet that a Black midwife lost her life due to pregnancy-related complications.
A wave of anger radiated through my body. My initial thoughts as a Black woman were “none of us are safe.” I reached out to my colleagues, many of whom are doulas or perinatal health providers, and they shared similar feelings.
Maternal death is nothing new among Black mothers. Sadly, it is still a traumatizing and painful reality. Black women remain victims of maternal death at higher rates than any other ethnic group in the country.
Racial disparities in healthcare and society are the root cause of the preventable, systemic problem. This calls for accountability and structural change.
Dr. Janell Green Smith was a trusted and well-known voice in South Carolina’s Black midwifery community — a native of Charleston who lived in Greenville.
However, on Thursday, Jan. 1st, Green Smith passed away from pregnancy-related complications, becoming yet another Black mother lost to a global public health issue. It is reported that she developed preeclampsia and medical professionals recommended she seek immediate medical treatment.
She delivered a beautiful baby girl eight weeks early via cesarean section. After what appeared to have been a successful delivery, Green Smith’s incision site ruptured. She was rushed into emergency surgery after which she developed life-threatening complications that ultimately led to her death.
Sadly, Green Smith was not able to have a midwife by her side because other practices nearby didn’t take her insurance.
Status and educational achievement do not protect Black women from maternal death.
Black women are still in danger regardless of their professional status, medical credentials, or vocational expertise.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, maternal mortality overall decreased nationwide in 2023, yet maternal death among Black women was still slightly up. The data says Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to experience maternal mortality than any other race or ethnicity.
South Carolina ranks eighth national in maternal mortality. The mortality rate for pregnant or postpartum Black mothers in South Carolina is two times the rate for white women. This disparity is an alarming indication that, if progress does not safeguard the most vulnerable, it is not genuine.
Implicit bias significantly affects the healthcare system, particularly harming marginalized populations.
I recall an unfortunate experience with a gynecologist following a diagnosis of fibroid tumors, where instead of receiving the necessary support, I was dismissed.
This issue is rooted in historical and systemic inequities that lead to inadequate care for women of color, who often experience disparities in pain management and diagnostic procedures. As a social worker and Black woman, I am committed to advocating for social change.
Alarmingly, 71% of Black women ages 18 to 49 report negative experiences with healthcare providers, and over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.
Understandably, the reality behind these statistics creates deep anxiety for many Black women. It highlights the urgent need to address healthcare inequalities and improve outcomes for marginalized communities.
Social workers are vital in advocating for social and health policies focused on improving health equity, ensuring access to quality healthcare for marginalized groups, particularly Black mothers, and challenging discriminatory policies.
To address the systemic issues affecting Black maternal health, action is essential. Awareness is not enough.
This involves amplifying Black voices, implementing mandatory implicit bias training for healthcare providers, and advocating for Medicaid expansion to improve access to maternal care.
Real change will come through accountability, investment in culturally competent care, and the elimination of institutional injustices, ensuring that all mothers are respected and supported.
Sydney Hart was born and raised in Knightdale, North Carolina, where she still lives. She is a medical social worker, a mental health therapist, author, and doctoral social work student at the University of Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Campbell University and Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
US Supreme Court temporarily restores telehealth access to abortion drug
BY: KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS - MAY 4, 2026 1:35 PM
What does SC law say?
FROM
SC DAILY GAZETTE
It’s already illegal for providers in South Carolina to mail the two pills that end a pregnancy. Even during the first six weeks of pregnancy, when abortions remain legal in the state, the drugs must be handed over in-person. State law explicitly bans the prescribing of abortion-inducing pills through a telehealth visit. But South Carolinians can get around that ban through a virtual visit with a doctor in another state. (See below.)
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on an appeals court ruling from Friday that was blocking remote access to an abortion drug, restoring access until at least May 11.
The administrative stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, pauses Friday’s decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling blocked a 2023 rule adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowing mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy before 10 weeks and to treat miscarriages, to be prescribed without an in-person visit with a health care provider and also allowed it to be mailed to recipients in states with abortion bans.
“The administrative stay is temporary, and I am confident life and law will win in the end,” said Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill in a statement.
Thirteen states have near-total abortion bans, including Louisiana. Murrill sued the FDA in October, saying the rule undermines the state’s laws and causes financial harm because the state paid $92,000 in Medicaid bills for two women who needed emergency care in 2025 from complications related to mifepristone.
In the years since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to regulate abortion access, telehealth prescriptions of abortion medication have become increasingly popular, with more than 27% of all abortions provided that way in 2025, according to data from the Society of Family Planning.
“While this is a positive short-term development, no one can rest easy when our ability to get this safe, effective medication for abortion and miscarriage care still hangs in the balance,” said Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney for the Reproductive Freedom Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, in a statement. “The Supreme Court needs to put an end to this baseless attack on our reproductive freedom, once and for all.”
The case could follow a similar pattern to one that played out in 2023, after U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas issued a ruling that would have revoked access to the abortion drug mifepristone altogether.
The U.S. Supreme Court intervened shortly after that ruling and kept mifepristone available while the case proceeded in the 5th Circuit appeals court, which eventually decided that more restrictions were warranted, but not pulling the drug’s approval. The Supreme Court officially took the case several months later, and unanimously ruled in June 2024 that the plaintiffs suing the FDA did not have standing, keeping access to mifepristone intact.
Responses from the attorneys in the latest case are expected to be filed with the Supreme Court by Thursday, according to Alito’s order.
Stateline reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris can be reached at kmoseley@stateline.org.
SC legislation
FROM
SC DAILY GAZETTE
Legislation advanced by South Carolina Republicans this year would reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs.
The pills would become illegal to possess without a prescription from a South Carolina doctor. The bill is meant to strengthen the state’s argument in a potential court fight.
Republicans wanted to restrict South Carolinians’ ability to get around the state’s telehealth ban through virtual visits with a doctor in a different state. Democrats argued reclassifying the drugs will restrict emergency access to the drugs for non-abortion uses.
The House voted 81-31 in February to pass the bill.
Senators have not taken that bill up.
A similar provision is included in a separate Senate bill that would also ban abortions from the beginning of a pregnancy. The Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced that bill to the floor two weeks ago. But it’s expected to die with the end of session. Further debate is officially blocked by two senators’ objections.
By law, the 2026 session will close at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 14.
Kelcie Moseley-Morris covers reproductive rights for Stateline. Based in Idaho, she has covered the effects of abortion bans nationwide, as well as reproductive health issues.
