Republican state
South Carolina bans abortion after the sixth week against opposition from Senate women
‘We’re more than baby factories’: activists protest ahead of South Carolina Senate vote to ban abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy
© Sean Rayford/Getty Images/AFP
The women in the Senate wanted to prevent it across party lines, but the men prevailed: South Carolina has drastically tightened its abortion laws. Family counselors speak of a “devastating decision”.
In the US state of South Carolina, a law was passed on Tuesday banning abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. The only five women in the Senate, including three Republicans, fought in vain for a compromise with less stringent regulations. During the debates, Republican Senator Sandy Senn accused her male party colleagues of “literally slapping women by bringing up the abortion issue over and over again.”
South Carolina governor wants to sign law “as soon as possible”.
Ultimately, anti-abortion groups got enough votes to pass the law. It will have far-reaching implications for access to abortion, especially since many women are 6 weeks pregnant and still unaware they are having a baby. In addition, many abortion clinics have long waiting lists, making the law almost a de facto ban, according to critics.
The law still needs to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster before it can go into effect. His consent is considered certain. He “can’t wait to sign the text” and put it into effect “as soon as possible,” McMaster said on Twitter.
Last June, the US Supreme Court overturned a landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion nationwide. As a result, numerous states restricted access to abortions or banned abortions. A previous South Carolina ban on abortions after the sixth week was overturned by the state Supreme Court.
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Recently surrounded by several states that ban abortion, South Carolina has become a haven for women seeking termination of pregnancy. The Republican senators in South Carolina saw this fact as a further argument for tightening the law. The state has become the “abortion capital of the Southeast,” said Senator Shane Massey.
Pro-choice advocates condemned the Senate decision in South Carolina. It’s a “devastating decision for the people of South Carolina and for an entire region where access to abortion is becoming increasingly difficult for patients,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the influential advisory organization Planned Parenthood. She announced that the politicians “will not have the last word” and promised to take legal action against the law.