South Carolina’s Senate on Wednesday night voted to ban nearly all abortions.
In the midst of debate on a bill that would ban the rare “dismemberment” method of abortion, the Senate voted 28–10 to pass an amendment allowing the procedure only in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother could die or be seriously harmed as a result of the pregnancy. It is estimated that the amendment would ban around 97 percent of South Carolina’s 5,700 abortions per year.
Though the amended bill is still one vote short of passage and expected to be filibustered by Democratic state senators, their Republican colleagues hope it will pass and spark a court challenge, leading to a possible reversal of the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe vs. Wade.
“It’s designed to give the court an opportunity to revisit Roe v. Wade,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey.
Democratic state senator Brad Hutto called the ban on virtually all abortions “clearly unconstitutional from my point of view,” but suggested Republicans passed the stricter amendment to get debate on the bill over with and let the courts deal with it.
“It’s an attempt to get it to the courts so we don’t have to keep debating it over and over and over,” said Hutto, but added he is sure the courts will strike it down.
“If you want to vote on it, this is your vote,” Hutto said, telling his Republican colleagues to vote on the stricter abortion ban they actually want instead of the “dismemberment” one. “If you want to dance on this one, you can see it on the commercials when you get home for your next election.”
Several states have introduced incredibly strict abortion bans in recent months in attempts to instigate legal challenges that they hope will lead to the Supreme Court. With conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench, states like Ohio, Iowa, and Mississippi hope the court challenges of their strict bans will provide opportunities to reverse Roe v. Wade.
If it the South Carolina bill is approved, it will go to the desk of GOP governor Henry McMaster, who has promised to sign all pro-life legislation the legislature passes.