COLOMBIA – Governor Henry McMaster signed a strict abortion ban bill on February 18, fulfilling a long-standing promise, but creating immediate legal challenges for the state.
Even before McMaster signed the legislation, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and Greenville Women’s Clinic announced that they were already filing a federal lawsuit to block it.
These two organizations operate the only three abortion clinics in the state.
A hearing on the immediate request for a temporary restraining order to suspend the project is scheduled for 1 pm on February 19 in Columbia’s federal court. Unless or until a court decides otherwise, the law is in effect, potentially putting scheduled abortion appointments in limbo.
Dr. Katherine Farris, medical director of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said the law “will pose a serious threat to the health and bodily autonomy of Southern Carolinians.”
State Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office “will vigorously defend this law in court because there is nothing more important than protecting life”.
The legislation, known to its supporters as the “fetal heartbeat” bill, prohibits abortion after about six to eight weeks of pregnancy. McMaster’s signature adds South Carolina to nearly a dozen other states that have passed similar bills, all of which have gone into court.
Doctors who break the law would be guilty of a crime, subject to a $ 10,000 fine and a maximum prison term of two years.
Greenwood Pastor Tony Foster is praying during a ceremony at which South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill banning nearly all abortions in the state on February 18, 2021, in Columbia. On the same day, the planned Paternity filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the measure from taking effect. Jeffrey Collins / AP
The House gave final approval to the bill on February 18 by a 74-39 vote, almost entirely on party lines. Two Democrats voted in favor and two Republicans voted against.
House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, said it was “a great day in South Carolina”.
“This is a tremendous achievement for our state,” said Lucas, adding that the bill “will save precious lives”.
The governor’s signing ceremony in the lobby of the Casa do Estado took place just minutes after the bill was ratified by the Senate and the House. It represented the culmination of a rapid adoption process that took just over a month since the project’s first hearing in this session.
In a broader sense, it crowned an effort by years of Republican lawmakers who had been repeatedly blocked by the Democratic minority in previous attempts to pass similar legislation. Republicans were able to pass the bill this year after expanding their majority in the Senate in the 2020 elections.
McMaster was flanked by dozens of lawmakers and other anti-abortion activists while applauding the bill’s approval.
“This day has been coming for a long time,” said McMaster. “Our battles are not over, but I believe the dawn of victory is upon us.”
The women’s health organizations that immediately filed the lawsuit will be represented in court by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Columbia Burnette Shutt & McDaniel law firm, according to a press release.
“This ban openly challenges nearly 50 years of Supreme Court precedents that protect a person’s right to terminate a pregnancy,” said Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The groups requested a temporary suspension “urgently needed” from the court, while the case awaits a hearing.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, according to court records. Lewis was nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2011 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2012.
At a press conference on February 17, just before the House passed the bill, McMaster acknowledged that there were likely to be lawsuits because of the bill, saying that it usually happens “for major advances like this.”
“Whether anyone challenges them or not,” McMaster said. “That’s what the courts are for.”
McMaster added that he believes opponents of abortion will eventually prevail, even if it takes some time for the case to reach the United States Supreme Court.
“Ultimately, it will remain because it is the right answer to a very serious question,” said McMaster.
State Sen. Larry Grooms, the bill’s main advocate, lamented the thousands of abortions worldwide and said the unborn children would be “screaming hallelujah” with the bill’s approval.
“In just a few moments, we are about to do something that I spent a quarter of a century trying to do: this is to shut down the abortion industry in this state,” said Grooms, R-Bonneau, as McMaster prepared to sign the bill.
The bill “will send a message to everyone that the pro-life movement is alive,” said state deputy John McCravy, R-Greenwood, who defended the measure in the House.
The United States Supreme Court has yet to pass a less radical Mississippi bill that would prohibit abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but recently reinstated a federal requirement that women seeking to terminate pregnancy using medication take a pill personally from a hospital. or doctor’s office.
Critics of the South Carolina bill note that many women may not even realize they are pregnant before the six-week period, undermining any chance they have of choosing whether to have an abortion. Supporters say an embryonic heartbeat is a sign of life, at which point abortion equals murder.
“The beating hearts of unborn children should awaken our nation’s awareness of the tragedy and reality of abortion – which deprives innocent boys and girls of the fundamental right to life,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List.
About 55% of abortions in South Carolina are performed after six weeks of gestation, according to 2019 data from the state health department.
South Carolina law includes some exceptions for rape or incest, if the mother’s life is in danger or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality that makes it unviable outside the womb.
The rape or incest exception includes a clause that requires doctors to report these cases to the local sheriff and state health agency, including the woman’s name and contact information.
The move drew the conviction of South Carolina’s lone sheriff Kristin Graziano of Charleston County, a Democrat, who argued that she would re-traumatize rape victims.
The Greenville Women’s Clinic opened as usual on February 18, although no one was available for comment. The organization released a statement saying that the majority of its patients do not know that they are pregnant before six weeks, meaning that the law would act as a total ban on abortion for them.
Marianne and Richard Stoddard were vigilant at the clinic, which offers abortions, as well as other health services for women, during the Lenten season for at least a decade. Lent began on February 17.
It has been a popular venue for demonstrators for years. Two years ago, a pro-life group built a new facility for the Piemonte Women’s Clinic across the street – a place where people at prayer vigils try to direct women who arrive for services at the abortion clinic.
“All the issues of life, from conception to natural death,” said Marianne Stoddard, 72, who said she has been involved in the pro-life movement since the age of 25.