COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – While some conservatives in South Carolina were celebrating obtaining a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in the state, overcoming a legislative barrier and probably becoming law, they said they haven’t finished trying to end all abortions.
The ultimate goal of a series of groups that oppose abortion is what is called the “personality law”, which would dictate that life begins at conception. This would give the fetus the rights of any citizen and would require “due process” to end his life under the United States Constitution. While other states have passed similar or even more restrictive abortion laws, none have gone so far.
The South Carolina Senate voted on Thursday 30 to 13 in favor of a bill that prohibits abortion after the fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs about six weeks after conception and before many women know they are pregnant. The proposal did not leave the chamber for several years.
The project goes to the Chamber, which has already approved similar proposals in previous sessions. The governor of South Carolina has said repeatedly that he will sign it.
“I will tell you this from my heart. There was nothing left but to defend life in conception after that, “said state senator Richard Cash, a Republican from Anderson County who made abortion his top Senate issue.
The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Abortion Protection Act” that passed the Senate this week is not the only abortion-related bill in the General Assembly.
At least eight others have also been filed. There are bills in the House and Senate to declare that life begins at conception and other proposals, including requiring doctors to tell women who receive pills to cause an abortion that it can be reversed after a dose and to ban a procedure rarely. used called dismemberment abortions.
Representative John McCravy, who often takes the lead in abortion restrictions in the House, wants abortion banned in South Carolina as well. But the Greenwood Republican hopes the House will not change the bill the Senate passed this week to make it more restrictive. Any changes would have to be approved again by the Senate.
McCravy is not sure whether the House is going to examine any other legislation on abortion this year. But with a two-year session, he said that a long time ago.
“Maybe before the session is over. But now we’re focusing on the heartbeat bill, “said McCravy.
The Senate debate this week showed that while Republicans made critical gains in the Senate – the three seats obtained from Democrats in November were crucial to this bill – there may not be enough support to go any further.
One of 30 Republicans, Senator Sandy Senn of Charleston, voted against the bill. A second Republican said he could not vote in favor of the bill until exceptions were added for pregnancies caused by rape and incest. These exceptions were added quietly and there were no votes this week to determine whether any other Republicans could support a more restrictive bill.
Democrats have pledged to continue to fight restrictions. Senate minority leader Brad Hutto said he would also point out the money wasted in legal disputes over the issue, while opponents of abortion ignore a different way of getting what they want.
“If they wanted to be genuine about what they believe, they should come up with a constitutional amendment to ban abortion,” said the Orangeburg Democrat. “They have no votes for that. They don’t have the stomach for it. “
Planned parenthood and other abortion rights groups have also pledged to continue fighting this bill and any other restrictions, saying that those decisions are between women and their doctors and that it is a shame that South Carolina does not spend this kind of effort improving education, expanding health care or fighting COVID -19, which help many more people.
Opponents of declaring life legally begins at conception said the statement could also place some unnatural birth control on unstable legal terrain, such as intrauterine devices, where a fertilized egg is prevented from implanting in the uterus and in vitro fertilization, where an egg and sperm are combined a number of times in a laboratory outside the womb in the hope that we can reach the end.
In the lobby of the Casa do Estado this week, opponents of abortion did not want to talk specifically about future plans until the current bill is passed by the legislature.
South Carolina Citizens For Life executive director Holly Gatling delivered one of her favorite charts. It shows that the state performed more than 14,000 abortions in 1988, when its group began to lobby. The graph steadily decreases as more restrictions on abortion are passed. About 5,100 abortions were performed in 2019.
“We want to save everyone,” said Gatling outside the Senate chamber.
After Thursday’s vote, Senator Larry Grooms went to Facebook Live with Gatling and thanked God for sending more Republicans to the South Carolina Senate. Bonneau’s Republican has been in the Senate since 1997 and, although his goal is to end abortion too, he didn’t want to miss what happened.
“I am in a happy place now. Today is the culmination of 24 years of work, “Grooms told reporters.” We will let this bill come into effect. “
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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.