Lawmakers must show greater understanding and commitment to constituents' safety

South Carolina continues to have one of the worst records of domestic violence in the nation.

Cynical observers will now say that they can see why. When state lawmakers don't treat the problem seriously, it's unlikely that anyone else acting on behalf of the state will.

That's the real danger of the fracas over a domestic violence bill in Columbia last week. Not only was a bill that would strengthen penalties against abusers tabled, a strong message was sent. That message is that lawmakers aren't worried about it.

The bill that was under consideration in the House Judiciary Committee had some problems, and lawmakers weren't inclined to approve it. But instead of amending it to fix the problems or simply killing it, they decided to make fun of it.

A tape of the meeting shows that one lawmaker questioned why the bill was titled "Protect Our Women in Every Relationship (POWER)." The legislator wanted to know why the title didn't include men. That's a valid question. Men are victims of domestic violence as well as women.

But lawmakers then laughed over substitute titles, suggesting "Protecting Our People in Every Relationship," which one said could be pronounced "pop-her." The lawmakers laughed after another said, "Pop-her again."

Lawmakers can be forgiven a laugh once in a while, but this was inappropriate. These elected representatives were making jokes about the people they are elected to serve. They laughed about their constituents getting beaten up. That's a play on words that's just not funny.

Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, compounded the problem with some dismissive comments about domestic violence.

How should a woman who has been the victim of domestic violence view the General Assembly after reading of this exchange? Will she have any reason to believe that lawmakers are looking out for her interests? Why should she believe that her elected leaders have any commitment to her safety?

She shouldn't. She has every reason to believe that the legislature is made up of a bunch of good old boys who care little about what happens to her.

House leaders recognize the damage that has been done and will resurrect a bill that they can pass to toughen domestic violence laws. But the legislation will be seen as damage control.

Many citizens will still see lawmakers as unthinking and uncaring about abused women, and the state has received another round of bad national publicity.