COLUMBIA, SC – Nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade, South Carolina lawmakers became the first to consider more restrictive legislation.
The state had already decided to ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. But on Thursday his legislature, now empowered to consider even greater restrictions, offered the first glimpse of a state taking its first steps toward a post-Roe America.
Many conservative states had passed strict restrictions on abortion, including outright bans, in anticipation of the Supreme Court decision. But now more are willing to consider banning abortion in conception, limits on out-of-state abortions, and closing access to abortion pills.
At the same time, abortion rights groups are demanding to prevent existing state bans from being enforced and are fighting to strengthen state laws that protect abortion rights. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said he plans to convene a special session to expand access to abortion.
Special legislative sessions aimed at restricting abortion are expected in Nebraska and Indiana. In Kansas, where abortion is allowed until 22 weeks of pregnancy, voters will go to the polls next month to decide whether to amend the state constitution to say it does not include the right to abortion .
With Republicans against abortion in tight control of the South Carolina legislature and executive branch, a new proposal that offers something closer to an absolute ban seems quite likely, though details are yet to be finalized. . On Thursday, exploration of a new abortion law began with a meeting of a 14-member, Republican-dominated House committee. But a bill introduced in the House has been intentionally left vague, with only a few lines of text, including a statement that state law would be changed “in order to ban abortions in the state of South Carolina.”
Courtney Milbank, an Indiana attorney, urged the committee to pass model legislation that she had helped draft for the National Committee on the Right to Life. The draft law prohibits all abortions, except to prevent the death of the pregnant woman, and calls for a criminal prosecution against anyone who “conspires to cause, or collaborate or collaborate in, illegal abortion.” , including anyone who takes a minor to another state for an abortion. The legislation would not punish women in civil or criminal courts.
A bill to ban abortion already tabled in the South Carolina Senate contains similar provisions.
Some Democrats say Republican leaders may not be willing to go too far beyond public opinion, which shows general support for abortion rights, with some limitations.
De Opinion: The End of Roe v. Wade
Commentary by Times Opinion writers and columnists on the Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion.
- David N. Hackney, Maternal and Fetal Medicine Specialist: The end of Roe “is a tragedy for our patients, many of whom will suffer and some could die.”
- Mara Gay: “Sex is fun. For Puritan tyrants who seek to control our bodies, that is a problem. “
- Elizabeth Spiers: “The idea that rich women will be fine, no matter what the law says, is probably comforting to some. But it’s just not true.”
- Katherine Stewart, writer: “Breaking American democracy is not an unwanted side effect of Christian nationalism. It is the point of the project.”
South Dakota first-term governor Kristi Noem has twice announced plans to convene a special session of the state legislature. South Dakota already has a total ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. But a special session could allow Republican lawmakers to impose additional restrictions, such as trying to ban residents from traveling out of state to receive an abortion.
However, Ms. Noem, a Republican facing re-election in November, has not called a special session.
Democrats say the governor is concerned that a session to strengthen the state’s already widespread ban could reveal that public opinion is divided on abortion. A representative of Mrs. Noem said the special session was not “in the immediate future.”
“I think the governor is realizing he’s out of the game with the people of South Dakota,” said state Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat.
South Dakota voters rejected two election initiatives, one in 2006 and one in 2008, that would have banned abortion long before Roe v. Wade seemed vulnerable to the revocation. Work is underway on a new electoral initiative that would enshrine the right to abortion in the State Constitution.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican running for re-election in November, said he welcomed the work of the House committee on a new abortion bill. But he may face a difficult political decision if he is presented with a bill that does not include exceptions for rape and incest, which are in the current law.
In late June, he told reporters, “I look forward to the day when we don’t have any abortions in South Carolina and we won’t need exceptions.”
On Thursday at South Carolina State House, Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, criticized the current six-week ban, saying at the time, “most people don’t even know she’s pregnant. yet, and it is often logistically impossible for many to organize safe legal care for abortion in time. “
Mrs. Black said Planned Parenthood’s two South Carolina clinics, in Columbia and Charleston, continued to offer abortions within the scope of the new law. (An independent clinic in Greenville also continues to offer abortion services, a worker there said Thursday).
Committee members on Thursday gave little indication of what kind of new restrictions they could adopt, giving most of the audience to residents who wanted to talk about the issue. Some quoted Scripture. Some spoke of abortion as part of a woman’s right to privacy.
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, the Democratic nominee for governor, told the committee he was stealing from women “the right to decide what happens to their own bodies.”
Craig Scott, an Abbeville pastor, spoke in favor of more restrictions. He told the committee that he had been diagnosed, in the womb, with birth defects, and that doctors had told his parents that he would be a “vegetable” after birth. Mr. Scott noted that he had graduated from college and currently runs a church.
“All I’m asking for today is to give these kids a chance: a chance to thrive, a chance to succeed, and a chance to live,” he said.
In North Carolina on Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order ordering state agencies to “protect people or entities that provide, assist, seek, or obtain legal reproductive health care services in Carolina. of the North “. The order recognized that North Carolina has begun attracting people from nearby southern states where abortion has been restricted or banned.
“Your zip code should not determine your rights,” Mr. Cooper at a press conference. “But because of the scandalous decision of the Supreme Court, that is the reality right now.”