COLOMBIA – Governor Henry McMaster and other South Carolina officials are appealing the decision of a federal judge who blocked the state’s strict abortion ban from taking effect.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis issued a preliminary injunction on March 19, determining that the new law banning most abortions after about 6 weeks of pregnancy is likely to be considered unconstitutional after lengthy court hearings.
In an April 2 lawsuit, lawyers representing McMaster, SC Mayor Jay Lucas, state attorney general Alan Wilson and state attorney Walt Wilkins notified the court of their plans to appeal the decision. Lewis to the Upper Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over several east coast states.
In a tweet about the decision to appeal, McMaster said, “No fight is worth more of our time and energy than the fight to protect life in South Carolina.”
The law prohibits abortion after a fetal or embryonic “heartbeat” is detected, which usually occurs in about 6 to 8 weeks in most pregnancies. The only exceptions would be in cases of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother or child would be in danger without an abortion.
The only three women’s health clinics in South Carolina that perform abortions, the Greenville Women’s Clinic and two Planned Parenthood clinics in Columbia and Charleston, immediately sued the state over the project and Lewis temporarily suspended the project the day after McMaster sanctioned.
A few weeks later, Lewis issued an extension of the temporary block in a hard-hitting 22-page decision, writing that “it is nothing short of bewildering when the Defendants make the fanciful, extravagant and misguided argument that the Law is constitutional, although certainly, time. all knowing very well that it is not. “
“This case doesn’t come close,” wrote Lewis. “In fact, based on the law, the Court is unable to understand how another court could decide this issue differently than the way this Court has ruled.”
If the Fourth Circuit upholds Lewis’ decision, South Carolina could appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
Proponents of the ban often say that their ultimate goal is to have the Supreme Court overturn or change their historic decision Roe v. 1973 Wade, who determined that women have a constitutional right to access abortion before the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is generally considered to be around 24 weeks pregnant.
But even with the addition of three conservative judges in recent years, the Supreme Court has not yet indicated much interest in revising its precedent on abortion. In recent months, the high court has repeatedly punished the decision to accept or not a blocked Mississippi law that would prohibit abortion after about 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Follow Jamie Lovegrove on Twitter @jslovegrove.