COLOMBIA, SC – South Carolina lawmakers are again considering a bill that would ban most abortions in the state and it looks much more likely to pass this time thanks to conservative advances in the United States General Assembly and Supreme Court.
The ban on abortion as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually about six weeks after conception, has been passed in several other states, but cannot be enforced due to legal challenges.
For years, the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Abortion Protection Act” passed the House and even the Senate. But supporters failed to get two-thirds of senators to agree to overcome a procedural hurdle and vote to ban. Some supporters of the project also hesitated to approve it because of the risk and cost of its rejection by the courts.
Two things changed in late 2020. Republicans won three seats in the Democratic Senate and increased their majority to 30 of the 46 seats in the House. And there was the death of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a credible vote by the U.S. Supreme Court against stricter abortion bans. She was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett, widely considered a conservative opponent of abortion when she rules.
Firmly in the Bible Belt, South Carolina was at the forefront of the strictest abortion laws before the turn of the century. But conservatives have been frustrated lately, as nearly a dozen other states – including neighboring Georgia, neighboring Tennessee and further away from Missouri – have passed the most stringent bans. The laws are all tied to the courts
“I can’t believe we’re still having this conversation,” said Chris Smith, the state coordinator for National Day of Prayer. “We’ve been at this for a while. It’s time to move on. “
A sign of the greater likelihood of approval this year was the small group of senators holding a public hearing on the proposal on Thursday, just the third day of the session. Usually, the Chamber approves the proposal by a wide margin first, before it stops at the other chamber. The bill was identified as “S-1” for this session, another symbolic gesture. Governor Henry McMaster said again in the State’s State speech on Wednesday that he would sign immediately if it passed.
Opponents of the bill said it would virtually make all abortions illegal, making them illegal, usually about six weeks after conception. They said that most women don’t realize they are pregnant before a heartbeat is detected. They also questioned why the Senate Medical Affairs Committee decided to have an abortion instead of COVID-19, which has already killed more than 5,400 people in the state.
The bill has exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk, and there is likely to be a wide debate about whether there should be exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
Similar bills have been passed in recent years in Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio. Missouri passed a ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy and Alabama lawmakers simply banned all abortions. They are all still being held in court.
Authorities said 101 people signed up to speak at Thursday’s hearing. The subcommittee chairman, Senator Tom Davis, promised to give them three minutes, while suggesting that minds would not change.
“It is a project on which individuals have widely expressed their views for and against,” said Davis, a Beaufort Republican.
Even before an hour passed, Democratic lawmakers looked tired of the torrent of pastors and religious groups calling for a ban.
“Help us with useful information. Political speeches and pastors preaching a sermon – I have a pastor, ”said State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston. “To be honest, I am more interested today in listening to doctors and people with medical experience.”
Senator Richard Cash, who was elected to the Senate in 2017 in large part for his zealous effort to ban all abortions, said everyone who wished to speak up should be heard.
“Citizens came to speak. I believe they have the right to three minutes, ”said the Republican from Anderson County. “If they want to speak as a pastor, a homemaker, anyone else in our society, they are welcome.”
Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.