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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina’s pro-life movement was ripped apart this week as a prominent anti-abortion group endorsed interim U.S. senator Darline Graham Nordone.
Nordone, who is seeking the U.S. Senate seat vacated by her late brother Lindsey Graham, has been a previous financial supporter of former state senator Katrina Shealy – who was ousted from her seat in the S.C. General Assembly for failing to toe the party line on this issue.
Nordone’s support for Shealy has been a millstone around her neck with many social conservatives – which is why the former’s endorsement by the National Right to Life organization on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) was such a big deal.
“Darline Graham will provide South Carolina with a strong pro-life voice and stand firmly in defense of unborn children, their mothers, and every vulnerable human life,” a statement from the organization noted.
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The endorsement might have helped, too, had it not been immediately followed by an emphatic rebuke from one of the Palmetto State’s top social conservative leaders – and a board member of the organization’s South Carolina chapter, S.C. Citizens for Life.
Well, a now-former board member…
Randy Page, one of South Carolina’s most respected evangelical leaders, didn’t just eviscerate the endorsement – he resigned from the group’s board of directors in protest.
“This endorsement is ill advised and inexcusable,” Page wrote on X. “Effectively immediately, I am resigning as a member of the board of S.C. Citizens for Life.”
Laura Beth Kirsop, another staunch pro-life advocate, also rebuked the organization – chiding it for choosing Nordone, a candidate without a record, over fifth district congressman Ralph Norman, whom she described as a “vocal pro-life champion.”
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“This is incredibly disappointing,” Kirsop wrote on X.
Norman has been endorsed by Students for Life Action, a group that has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to the pro-life cause at times when groups more loyal to the Palmetto State’s Republican establishment remained silent – or worse.
“Ralph Norman represents a reliable, pro-life fighter in this race, and Students for Life Action is proud to endorse him for U.S. Senate,” the group’s president Kristan Hawkins said in a statement. “There is a sharp contrast between a candidate who has been silent on abortion over the years and who even financially supported a state senator who blocked SFLAction legislation in the Palmetto State, and a legislator who has made his pro-life convictions clear.”
A veteran pro-life grassroots activist who spoke to FITSNews on condition of anonymity offered arguably the most blunt critique of all related to S.C. Citizens for Life’s endorsement of Nordone.
“S.C. Citizens for Life is no longer in the business of protecting babies,” the activist said. “They REFUSE to stop abortion.”
Nordone and Norman face voters in a special Republican runoff election on August 25, 2026. The winner of their head-to-head battle will face Democrat Annie Andrews, Libertarian Kasie Whitener, Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett and several other independent candidates in the November 3, 2026 general election.
BANNER VIA: GETTY IMAGES
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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