abortion bill

The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy, sending the bill to the governor who has promised to sign it. The proposal passed on Tuesday restores the ban South Carolina had in place when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. That ban was overturned by the state’s highest court because it violated the state Constitution’s right to privacy.

South Carolina is close to joining its Southern neighbors in further curtailing abortion access. The Republican-led state Senate on Tuesday is expected to consider a bill banning most abortions after an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, generally around six weeks and before most patients know they are pregnant. The proposal cleared the state House last week following nearly 24 hours of proceedings split across two days over hundreds of Democrats' amendments. But additional regulations inserted by the House are provoking Republican ire that could prolong the debate. Those changes include requiring child support beginning at conception and limiting minors' ability to petition the court for an abortion.

South Carolina is a step closer to having a six-week abortion law again.

As more Southern states pass new restrictions on abortion, Virginia is poised to become an outlier in the region for its relatively permissive laws. That could set up Virginia as a destination for women seeking abortions and raise questions about providers' capacity to meet demand. South Carolina is among the last bastions in the region for those seeking legal abortions, but that status could end soon. Access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy under a bill expected that passed the House Wednesday but still needs Senate approval. And most abortions after 12 weeks will be banned in North Carolina after the state legislature successfully overrode the Democratic governor's veto Tuesday.

The Republican-controlled South Carolina House is expected to debate a bill that would ban abortion as soon as cardiac activity is detected. The debate on Tuesday comes after the state Senate rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw the procedure as soon as conception. The chambers' disagreement over restrictions epitomizes fault lines that have developed between Republicans nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The measure in the House would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks and before most people know they are pregnant. Opponents say a ban around six weeks is essentially an "outright abortion ban."

This year’s regular session of the General Assembly ended late Thursday, May 11, 2023. It ended where it began with Republicans attempting to enact a new, restrictive abortion bill. A House committee this week approved and sent to the full House a six-week, heartbeat bill similar to a law the state Supreme Court overturned in January. Gov. McMaster plans to call lawmakers back to Columbia next week, and House Speaker Murrell Smith vowed the House will pass the bill which has already been approved by the Senate.

South Carolina Republicans are pushing new abortion restrictions in an attempt to curtail access after a near-total ban failed last month. A Senate bill that would ban abortion except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy moved quickly Tuesday through the South Carolina House in the first sign that Republican leaders may be close to restoring limits passed in 2021 but overturned by the state Supreme Court. The measure seeks to ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks and before most women know they are pregnant. It now goes to the House floor for a vote before returning to the Senate.

Abortion bans in deeply conservative Nebraska and South Carolina each fell a single vote short of passing in their legislatures amid heated debates among Republicans. It's another sign that abortion is becoming a difficult issue for the GOP. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber in Nebraska on Thursday as the last vote was counted. Opponents of the bill waved signs and chanted, "Whose house? Our house!" In South Carolina, Thursday's vote was the third attempt since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer to strict bans on abortion.

The Republican-controlled South Carolina Senate is set to rehash an ongoing disagreement with the GOP-dominated House over when the conservative state should ban abortion. With less than three weeks left to pass any new restrictions, the Senate this week will take up a near-total ban that already cleared the House. It is unclear why. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has repeatedly said he can't get the 26 Senate votes for the stricter House bill. Meanwhile, abortion has remained legal through 22 weeks, and out-of-state patients have increasingly turned to South Carolina for abortion care in a region that has largely curtailed access.

The Republican controlled legislature’s conservative agenda was front and center at the Statehouse this week. Lawmakers advanced new, but not so new abortion bills, a bill that would restrict what teachers can teach in their classrooms, and elected a new Supreme Court justice that will leave the court without a female justice for the first time in 35 years.