The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed a bill banning nearly all abortions, following the example of other states with similar measures that would take effect if the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The proposal passed the Senate on January 28. She faces a final procedural vote in the House on Thursday that is unlikely to change the outcome and will be sent to the governor for her signature. Republican Governor Henry McMaster promised to sign the measure as soon as possible.
The House voted 79-35 in favor of the bill after almost all members of the Democratic caucus left in protest at one point. Some Democrats stayed behind while Republicans eliminated more than 100 proposed amendments. After giving a press conference to speak out against the bill, several other Democrats returned to express their opposition to the measure, which has been debated in the legislature countless times in the past decade. Almost all members of the Chamber were later present for the vote.
“You love the fetus in the womb. But when it’s born, it’s a different reaction,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg, the oldest member of the House at 29.
Several Republican lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill.
Congresswoman Melissa Lackey Oremus said that many women have mixed feelings when they become pregnant, especially when they are not where they would like to be in life. But Aiken’s Republican said there was no reason for the abortion.
“They don’t deserve to die just because their mother made the wrong choice one night,” said Oremus.
The project requires doctors to perform ultrasound to check the fetus for a heartbeat. If detected, abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or if the mother is in danger.
About a dozen other states have approved similar or more restrictive abortion bans, which could come into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court – with three judges appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump – ousted Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court ruling that supported abortion rights.
Groups that oppose the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Abortion Protection Act” are likely to file a lawsuit, preventing the law from taking effect. All prohibitions approved by other states are linked to legal challenges.
Jeffrey Collins / AP
For years, the bill has not passed the Senate. But Republicans won three seats in the 2020 elections, and the newly renewed 30-16 Republican majority made the Senate’s No. 1 bill proposal and finally pushed it over a procedural hurdle.
Republicans have urged people who want to see even more restrictions on abortion to avoid changing the bill to ensure it is passed. The only change was in the Senate to add exemptions for pregnancies caused by rape and incest.
The bill would not punish a pregnant woman for having an illegal abortion, but the person who performed the abortion could be charged with a crime, sentenced to up to two years and fined $ 10,000 if found guilty.