(This column is written by a good friend, Linda Hansen. She's a contributor to Huffington Post and other new media outlets.)

South Carolina is a pro-life state. Pro-life. Period. Say the word “abortion” and most good Christian Carolinians will preach a rousing lay sermon on the sanctity of life, which begins at the precise nano-second of conception. One cell or a million of them, a baby is a baby is a baby and denying it life is murder. Some of us disagree about the exact moment of embryonic viability, but we have to admire folks who have such reverence for all life they build whole political careers on the Sanctity Statute. Really. Life is good.

Of course, after all those cherished young’uns are born, it’s a different story altogether. Too many of them are born dirt-poor. The sanctity of life gives way to a tad of intolerance about, say, food stamps and Medicaid. The poor may always be with us, but we shouldn’t be forced to help care for them. Where’s the sanctity in that?

South Carolina is not a healthy state. We are, in fact, one of the sickest, ranking 46th out of 50 states in the hale and hearty department. According to the Census Bureau, 16.6% of us were without health insurance in 2005-’06. The Kaiser Foundation and State Access Data Assistance Center, University of Minnesota report that 18.5% of us were without access to standard health care in 2007. Other estimates run as high as 19.5-20% since the summer of 2008.

Meanwhile, back at the state legislature, there are two pre-filed House bills for our protection. H. 4171 will amend our code of laws, adding section 38-71-15. In brief, this amendment reads: “…health insurance coverage through a public plan underwritten in whole or in part by the federal government…the State of South Carolina hereby ‘Opts Out’ and declines to have this public plan option apply to or be available to the citizens of this state.”

H.4181 is a lofty companion bill. The gist of this one? We South Carolinians want our freedom, honey: “A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Article I of the [State] Constitution …relating to the Declaration of Rights, so as to add a new section preserving the freedom of South Carolinians with respect to the providing of health care services by prohibiting any law… to compel an individual, employer or health care provider to participate in a health care service, by allowing individuals and employers to pay directly for lawful health care services without penalties or fines for these direct payments…”

Thanks, Rep. Tim Scott (R-Dist. 117), for preserving our freedom to pay Big Insurance whatever obscenely outrageous premiums they demand, to be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions and to be unceremoniously dumped when we have the audacity to get sick and file claims for the coverage we’ve been paying for.

FYI, folks: Reid’s new Senate bill, page 326: The public health insurance “mandate” is simply this: If a citizen who can afford it opts to go without insurance, (s)he will pay $750 per year--a minimum amount to help offset the cost in the event (s)he requires ER intervention. The emergency room, one of the costliest ways to access medical care, serves as the over-stressed primary care provider for the uninsured. The cost of indigent care gets passed along to us; one way or another, we will pay for the uninsured. We've been doing it for decades.

And by the way, Representative Scott... on or about page 217 of the Senate bill, you’ll find this: If a state decides to “opt out”, it must have a waiver from Health & Human Services determining said state has a plan that provides coverage at least as good as the public option, protects against excessive out-of-pocket spending (i.e. affordable for consumers), provides coverage for a comparable number of residents as a public option and does not increase the deficit.

Ruh-roh.

Truth to tell, South Carolina has a lousy track record in the Opt Out business. We did it on December 20, 1865. Opting out of the Union proved to be a deadly disaster for citizens of this state. Opting out of sane, humane, affordable health care services is not pro-life. It’s denying medical care to those who need it most. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is state-sponsored euthanasia.