A senate RESOLUTION

to recognize Senator Penry Gustafson for her conscientious stand against an abortion ban in South Carolina, for which she was honored with the 2023 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award.

Whereas, on October 29, 2023, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her children, Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg, presented the 2023 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage® award to five women state senators from South Carolina, among them Senator Penry Gustafson; and

Whereas, Senator Gustafson and Senators Katrina Shealy, Margie Bright Matthews, Mia McLeod, and Sandy Senn were honored for forming a bipartisan coalition to filibuster legislation they believed would unduly curtail women's healthcare and reproductive rights in the State. This unlikely coalition, deemed the "Sister Senators," was formed across party lines, consisting of the only women in the South Carolina State Senate at the time, including Republican Senator Gustafson, two other Republican Senators, one Democrat, and one Independent; and

Whereas, the Profile in Courage® awards for 2023 honored leaders, like Senator Gustafson, who took a stand of conscience by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing. Senator Gustafson and the other four female senators of the South Carolina Senate stood by their shared beliefs about women, motherhood, and politics, collaborating in the midst of one of the most divisive subjects of their time. These women faced intense opposition and personal attacks while working together and across the aisle to defeat a total ban and oppose a near-total ban on abortion; and

Whereas, in the immediate aftermath of their filibuster, the Sister Senators were heckled and harassed by anti-abortion activists. Despite this opposition, the women of the South Carolina Senate exemplified courage, conviction, and collaboration in politics by seeking justice and individual freedom at all levels of government, earning them the honor and distinction of this coveted award; and

Whereas, the Profile in Courage® award, designed by Edwin Schlossberg, is a sterling silver lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope and of courage. When Senator Gustafson was presented with this award, she noted that it was not just a recognition but a validation of her lifelong effort to do the right thing. She committed to staying true to herself and to persisting in advocating for issues that touch the very heart of every American, especially those in the State of South Carolina; and

Whereas, Senator Gustafson, who hails from Camden and is a full-time legislator, represents Chesterfield, Kershaw, and Lancaster Counties in South Carolina Senate District 27 and serves on the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources, Corrections and Penology, Family and Veterans' Services, and Judiciary Committees. Elected in 2020, she was the first Republican to win her position in more than one hundred years. In the past, she has served her community as coordinator of Operation Inasmuch of the Midlands, as a member of the Bridlewood Farms Home Owners Association Board, and as a member of the Food for the Soul Board of Directors. Through decades of community service and advocacy, she has championed those most vulnerable or underserved; and

Whereas, when accepting this award and recognition, Senator Gustafson counted her blessings: her husband, her children, God, her gratifying job, and this country that she loves. Senator Penry Gustafson is married to Todd Gustafson, and the two are the proud parents of three children, William, Andrew, and Margaret; and

Whereas, only sixty people in the world had received the prestigious the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage® award before Senator Gustafson and her Sister Senators were selected by a distinguished bipartisan committee of national, political, and community leaders. The South Carolina Senate congratulates Senator Gustafson on being honored with this prestigious award for political courage.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, recognize Senator Penry Gustafson for her conscientious stand against an abortion ban in South Carolina, for which she was honored with the 2023 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage® award.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the Honorable Penry Gustafson.

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