COLOMBIA – A federal judge said on March 8 that she will decide “soon” whether to block the abortion ban in South Carolina, saying she must first determine whether the governor and the president of the state chamber should be allowed to intervene in the case.
While U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis decides whether to grant an injunction blocking the law, her restraining order that temporarily lifted the ban in February and was extended on March 5 remains in effect until March 19.
The injunction would provide a longer-lasting suspension of the ban than the temporary restraining order, granted the day after Republican Governor Henry McMaster signed it.
McMaster and House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, recently filed requests to intervene and make their own arguments in support of the law, in addition to Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is representing the state in the case.
If Lewis decides that McMaster and Lucas are allowed to intervene, she said she should first review her arguments before issuing her decision on the injunction.
South Carolina law, similar to bills passed in about a dozen other conservative states, would prohibit abortion after a fetal or embryonic “heartbeat” is detected, which typically occurs in about 6 to 8 weeks. of pregnancy.
If Lewis grants the injunction, as expected, it will start what is likely to become a legal process for years.
Supporters of the abortion ban say its ultimate goal is to get the United States Supreme Court to take the case and substantially reverse or alter its precedent that women have a constitutional right to access abortion before a fetus is viable outside of the uterus.
A fetus is generally not considered viable outside the womb until about 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood immediately filed the lawsuit hours before McMaster signed the bill into law. South Carolina Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson said he believed the law was constitutional and “deserves a vigorous defense in the United States Supreme Court, if necessary.”
If Lewis grants the preliminary injunction, Wilson could appeal to the upper Fourth Circuit or pursue more extensive arguments in Lewis’s court.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Follow Jamie Lovegrove on Twitter @jslovegrove.