COLUMBIA, SC — The South Carolina Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before most people know they are pregnant — and sent it to the governor , who promised to sign it.
The proposal reinstates a ban South Carolina had in place when the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year, a ban that, once it went into effect, was struck down by the state supreme court because it violated the state Constitution’s right to privacy.
Republicans have been seeking a response to that ruling because it legalized abortion up to 22 weeks into pregnancy and dramatically increased the number of abortions in South Carolina as most other southern states enacted stricter laws.
South Carolina is among the last strongholds in the region for those seeking legal abortions, but that status is likely to end soon.
Most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will be banned in North Carolina starting July 1 after the Republican-controlled state Legislature successfully overrode the Democratic governor’s veto last week. Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including pregnancy bans in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. In Georgia, it is only allowed for the first six weeks.
The South Carolina bill includes exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities, life and health of the patient, and rape or incest up to 12 weeks. The doctors could face felony charges that carry two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has said he will sign the bill into law.
The Republican-led Senate’s opportunity to pass the bill came after the south carolina house backed down from a proposal to ban abortion almost entirely at the moment of conception. Senators had been unable to get votes for that proposal after three different attempts.
The vote also came after the three Republican women in the Senate urged the other members of their party to adopt a 12-week abortion ban while fighting additional restrictions a month after helping to obstruct a near-total ban. They joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.
The women senators entered the House of Representatives together on Tuesday to enthusiastic cheers from dozens of abortion rights advocates gathered on the main floor. All five of them put on buttons that read «pick more women.»
In virulent speeches, the three Republican women said the 12-week proposal doesn’t give women enough time to make a decision, criticizing changes like one that requires child support from conception as ridiculous. Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy endorsed a 12-week ban as a «real compromise.»
Shealy and Republican Senator Penry Gustafson have rejected claims that they are not true Christians because of their positions.
“We in the South Carolina Legislature are not God. We don’t know what’s going on in someone else’s life. We don’t have the right to make decisions for someone else,» Shealy said.
House Republicans also removed a section of the measure that allowed minors to petition the court for an abortion up to 12 weeks pregnant.
Republican Majority Leader Shane Massey outlined new regulations and definitions inserted by the Republican-dominated South Carolina House of Representatives last week during proceedings delayed by hundreds of amendments from Democrats. During two days.
This week marks the fourth time the chamber has taken up abortion since the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The Senate’s 15 Democrats, united against both abortion bans, have left the Republican majority to debate the issue among themselves. Opponents argue that South Carolina’s high maternal mortality rates, with even poorer outcomes among black patients, would be made worse by the new restrictions.
Currently, abortion remains legal up to 22 weeks in South Carolina, though other regulations largely block access after the first trimester at the state’s three clinics. But the law hasn’t changed in the middle of a republican disagreement on how far to restrict access that has only recently moved towards resolution.
Republican leaders have taken note of provisional data from the state Department of Health showing a rising number of abortions in South Carolina.
The action comes a week after Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly moved to enact a 12-week abortion ban overriding the Democratic governor’s veto, bringing Virginia closer to being the last state in the region. with relatively easy access.
Lawmakers anticipate legal challenges to any ban that ultimately becomes law. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck down a similar 2021 law as a violation of the state’s constitutional right to privacy in a 3-2 decision this January. But many Republicans believe the latest version would stand after changes to both the language of the proposal and the court makeup.