By Andy Brack | Next week is supposed to be the last week of the 2023 legislative session, full of pell-mell rushing about the budget and a few bills that have almost made it over the finish line.
But House Republicans next week are expected to upset the political apple cart by again pushing for a six-week abortion ban similar to one ruled unconstitutional earlier this year, Statehouse Report confirmed today.
“The male-dominated legislature is hellbent on controlling the decisions of women, going as far as to ram through an abortion ban in the final days of the legislative session,” said Planned Parenthood’s Vicki Ringer when asked about the new development on the continuing debate on abortion. “Lawmakers are scheming behind closed doors without informing the public because they know what they’re doing is deeply unpopular and wrong for South Carolina.”
Ringer warned that fiddling with women’s reproductive health choices would lead to “substandard health care, higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, and more people forced to carry a pregnancy and give birth against their will.
“Politicians in Columbia know the people of South Carolina don’t want this in our state — which is exactly why they refuse to let voters have a say through a ballot referendum and instead resort to shameful political games.”
Backing off a near-total ban
Two sources inside the General Assembly, one Democratic and one Republican, say House Republicans will consider a six-week abortion ban that passed the Senate earlier in the session. To date, hard-right leaders in the House have rejected it in favor of their own near-total abortion ban passed earlier in the session.
But the sources, both of whom asked for anonymity, said those pushing for something more conservative on abortion than the status quo caved to the Senate’s position.
If all goes as expected, the pro-life House backers will push the Senate bill through a Hoiuse Judiciary subcommittee and the full committee Tuesday, and then take it to the floor for consideration by Wednesday.
The session is supposed to end 5 p.m. Thursday. If the abortion bill hasn’t passed by then, there’s talk about pro-life Gov. Henry McMaster calling lawmakers back into session to get it done.
The impact on the General Assembly is expected to be chaotic because of the usual frenzy left with trying to get next year’s budget passed before 5 p.m. Thursday.
The year of ping-ponging bills
Differing versions of abortion bans have ping-ponged between S.C. House and Senate since last year. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected abortion across the country. That decision opened South Carolina to enable a six-week abortion ban passed in 2021 by the General Assembly. But South Carolina courts temporarily blocked that ban and the S.C. Supreme Court eventually permanently struck it down saying the six-week ban was unconstitutional for violating the state’s right to privacy. In the meantime, the House twice pushed through a tougher, near-total ban, which was smacked down in the Senate.
Then earlier this year, the House tried again, sending another near-total ban to the Senate (H. 3774). It calls for abortion to be banned at conception, with exceptions for rape or incest through the first trimester, fatal fetal anomalies confirmed by two physicians, and to save a patient’s life or health. Meanwhile, the Senate sent a proposal (S. 474) banning abortion about six weeks after conception to the House.
If the House ends up approving the Senate’s six-week abortion ban soon, look for abortion rights advocates to again sue that the measure invades privacy and is unconstitutional.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
I believe in the sanctity of life for the unborn above the rights of the living. Killing of the innocent is wrong… Period