On May 19, 2019, during the South Carolina legislative debate over an abortion bill, Mace made her first public disclosure of her rape history, saying:

"For some of us who have been raped, it can take 25 years to get up the courage and talk about being a victim of rape. My mother and my best friend in high school were the only two people who knew."

The disclosure was made in the context of the bill's rape exception provisions and marked the first time Mace had spoken publicly about the experience.

Source: Associated Press · archived