While I Breathe

ACLU of South Carolina
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“While I Breathe I Hope.” It’s the state motto of South Carolina. It’s about surviving and fighting and overcoming despair. While I Breathe is a wide-ranging program from the ACLU of South Carolina about the most important civil rights and civil liberties issues of our time. We feature interviews with people living and working on the front lines. We'll learn a few things and get to work building the state we deserve.

  1. 19: What’s Going On (In the Statehouse)?

    JAN 26

    19: What’s Going On (In the Statehouse)?

    South Carolina lawmakers started 2026 with a barrage of bills attacking our reproductive freedom, voting rights, free speech rights, and more. But even on the ugliest days of the legislative session, South Carolinians showed up, spoke out, and wrote in to their lawmakers demanding something better. How do we keep showing up for this work, and just as importantly, why? We get into it with advocacy director Courtney.

    49 min
  2. 18: Hell of a Year

    12/19/2025

    18: Hell of a Year

    Public funding of religious schools. A victory for the rights of young voters at the DMV. A green light for partisan gerrymandering. A total abortion ban stopped in its tracks. On this episode, Jace and Paul try to remember all the highlights and low points of 2025. No victory is final, and neither are the losses.   Governor Henry McMaster has sent National Guard troops to Washington D.C. again. If you’d like to send a message telling him to bring the troops home for the holidays, visit https://aclusc.org/guard

    1h 23m
  3. 17: A Total Abortion Ban

    11/13/2025

    17: A Total Abortion Ban

    A total abortion ban is advancing in the South Carolina legislature. On today’s episode, we’re breaking down Senate Bill 323, which would equate abortion with homicide. Our guests are Courtney Thomas (Advocacy Director, ACLU of South Carolina) and Vicki Ringer (Director of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic).  Send a message to your lawmakers using this form: https://www.aclusc.org/323   Learn more about S. 323 here: https://www.aclusc.org/legislation/total-abortion-ban-s-323/   Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley.  The audio you hear at the beginning and end of the episode is from Courtney’s speech on the State House steps on October 1, the day of the first hearing on S. 323. The video is pinned on our Instagram page @aclusc: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPY6R_ljml2/

    59 min
  4. 16: ICE Invades South Carolina (Part 2)

    10/20/2025

    16: ICE Invades South Carolina (Part 2)

    As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) goes rogue and violates our civil liberties, South Carolinians are demanding that their local law enforcement agencies stop signing new ICE collaboration agreements under the 287(g) program. For the second half of our two-part series on the mass deportation agenda in our state, we’re headed to the Lowcountry to hear how locals are pushing back.   Curious if your local police have signed an ICE collaboration agreement? Check our map at https://aclusc.org/287g   If you or someone you know have experienced an immigration raid in South Carolina, we would like to hear your story. Hearing community members’ stories helps us understand how rights are being violated as part of immigration enforcement efforts. We have a form you can fill out, with bilingual instructions in Spanish and English, at https://aclusc.org/redada   Our petition against a proposed ICE detention camp in South Carolina has 13,000 signatures and counting. Add your name and share it with your friends at https://aclusc.org/ice25   For more information about the Charleston-area ICE verification hotline, follow @chs_hotline on Instagram.

    1h 8m
  5. 15: ICE Invades South Carolina (Part 1)

    08/28/2025

    15: ICE Invades South Carolina (Part 1)

    On June 18 at a strip mall in a small town in the far Upstate of South Carolina, Homeland Security Investigations arrested 10 people at Puerto Nuevo, a popular Mexican restaurant. What really happened that day? And why is communication breaking down between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve in places like Oconee County? Today's episode explores the way the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda is sowing chaos, fear, and confusion — and the way people in small towns like West Union, S.C., are pushing back to protect their neighbors. We had so much ground to cover, we decided to split this episode into two parts. Up next on Episode 16, we’ll continue unpacking what really happened at other immigration raids around the state, including the infamous June 1 raid in Ladson. We’ll also travel to Beaufort County, where hundreds of locals have shown up to oppose a 287(g) agreement signed by their sheriff. This fight is far from over. To see our map of 287(g) agreements and check the status of your local sheriff's office, go to aclusc.org/287g If you would like to sign a petition against the ICE detention camp being proposed by candidates for governor in South Carolina, go to aclusc.org/ice25 If you would like to volunteer with the ACLU of South Carolina in support of immigrants' rights or other constitutional rights, we have a quick interest form you can fill out at aclusc.org/volunteer Another way you can help out is by volunteering with one of the ICE hotlines being created by volunteers across the state. Currently the hotline covering Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties is up and running. If you are interested in learning more, follow @chs_hotline on Instagram or search for "CHS Hotline / CHS Linea Directa Comunitaria Inmigrante" on Facebook.

    48 min
  6. 14: The Opposite of Therapy

    07/30/2025

    14: The Opposite of Therapy

    A medically discredited practice known as “conversion therapy” seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ+ people. Medical experts long ago reached the conclusion that this practice is harmful, and many of the leading founders of “ex-gay” organizations have apologized and renounced their own work in the past decade. So why are South Carolina’s most powerful politicians pushing to bring it back? This week on the podcast, we’re diving deep with survivors of conversion therapy and the Columbia locals who showed up in droves to oppose the City of Columbia’s recent decision to rescind a ban on juvenile conversion therapy. What does it mean when the capital city takes a big step backward like it did this spring?   Links to organizations mentioned in the episode:   Harriet Hancock Center: https://www.harriethancockcenter.org/   PFLAG: https://pflag.org/findachapter/  ACLU of South Carolina: https://www.aclusc.org/en/news/5-things-know-about-conversion-therapy-columbia-south-carolina  Articles referenced:  “I survived conversion therapy. Columbia shouldn’t support it.” https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/free-times/opinion/column-conversion-therapy-survivor-columbia-sc-ban/article_66bb062f-ac20-4169-ae45-1e7c93461dfa.html   “'Taught to hate myself': How gay conversion therapy in SC is thriving” https://www.postandcourier.com/news/taught-to-hate-myself-how-gay-conversion-therapy-in-sc-is-thriving/article_3b53124c-abb9-11e8-8428-ef7b8427bd63.html  “One of the nation's largest conversion therapy networks is disbanding” https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/one-nation-s-largest-conversion-therapy-networks-disbanding-n1231574   Music on this episode is by Daft Hartley and A Spot on the Hill.

    45 min
  7. 13: Meet Your Trans Neighbors

    06/06/2025

    13: Meet Your Trans Neighbors

    You sent in questions for your transgender neighbors in South Carolina. Now we’re answering them. For the Season 2 premiere, we’re hosting a panel conversation with transgender South Carolinians from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Eboni Sims (she/her), Sterling Misanin (he/him), and Gwenn McClune (she/her) share their joys, struggles, and insights as trans people living in the Palmetto State. Our podcast co-host Jace Woodrum (he/him) serves as moderator for the panel. He also shares some of his own stories as a trans man from our state — and the first-ever trans executive director of an ACLU affiliate (sorry, not sorry, we’re going to keep bragging about that). If you would like to help advocate for the rights of trans South Carolinians — and South Carolinians — please fill out a volunteer interest form at aclusc.org/volunteer. To learn more about our case representing Sterling and challenging the constitutionality of our state’s gender-affirming care ban, go to aclusc.org/mvw

    1h 14m
  8. 12: School Vouchers Are a Disaster

    01/21/2025

    12: School Vouchers Are a Disaster

    Ever heard the name Howard Rich? How about Jeff Yass? You didn’t vote for them, but they and a handful of other out-of-state billionaires have been leading the push to fund private religious schools with public money in South Carolina.  On this episode we are joined by Professor Josh Cowen, author of the 2024 book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers. As someone who has investigated the outcomes of private school vouchers in other states, he speaks out on these programs’ terrible academic track record, the pitfalls of voucher schools for students with learning disabilities, the havoc they wreak on rural schools’ education funding, and the ugly segregationist history of voucher campaigns from Brown v. Board to the present day.  For more information and links to studies and news coverage, see our recent blog post, "The ugly truth about school vouchers": https://www.aclusc.org/en/news/ugly-truth-about-school-vouchers Now is a good time for lawmakers to hear from their constituents who oppose school vouchers. Our friends at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center have set up a page to help you contact your state senator, including some suggested language for an email: https://www.votervoice.net/SCJustice/Campaigns/120058/Respond  Music featured on this episode is by Daft Hartley. The audio clips at the start and end of the episode are of South Carolina Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, speaking at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation on June 6, 2024. You can hear her further comments about “an overtly faith-based education” on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclusc/reel/C8mVOLwBd3e/

    53 min
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About

“While I Breathe I Hope.” It’s the state motto of South Carolina. It’s about surviving and fighting and overcoming despair. While I Breathe is a wide-ranging program from the ACLU of South Carolina about the most important civil rights and civil liberties issues of our time. We feature interviews with people living and working on the front lines. We'll learn a few things and get to work building the state we deserve.

Information

  • Creator
    ACLU of South Carolina
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © ACLU of South Carolina
  • Show Website
    While I Breathe