COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – The South Carolina House overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday banning nearly all abortions, following other states with similar measures that would go into effect if the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The bill will have a final procedural vote in the House on Thursday, which is unlikely to change the outcome, and will then be sent to the governor for signature. The Republican government Henry McMaster has pledged to sign the measure as soon as possible.
The Senate approved the measure on Jan. 28, after years of unsuccessful attempts. Republicans secured three seats in the 2020 election, and the newly ratified Republican majority of 30-16 propelled Senate Law No. 1.
“This is the largest pro-life law this state has ever passed,” said Republican Pickens representative David Hiott.
The South Carolina Fetal Heart Rate and Abortion Protection Act Requires doctors to take ultrasounds to check for a heartbeat in the fetus. If one is discovered, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger.
The bill wouldn’t punish a pregnant woman for having an illegal abortion, but the person who performed the abortion could be charged with a felony, sentenced to two years, and fined $ 10,000 if found guilty.
About a dozen other states have passed similar or more restrictive abortion bans, which could go into effect as the U.S. Supreme Court – with three justices appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump – Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court decision in support of abortion rights would nullify. .
Groups opposed to the bill are likely to file a lawsuit, which will prevent the law from taking effect. All the bans passed by other states are involved in legal proceedings.
Although Wednesday’s house approval was almost a done deal, the road there was rocky. A Republican lawmaker calling for a tougher law that fetuses have the rights of all citizens at conception threw up his papers and stormed out in a ruckus that angered the speaker. Most Democrats left the room to protest the bill. They had to come back when a member of the party who left and returned made the rare request to have the clerk read the entire bill, prompting Republicans to demand that all lawmakers be present.
During the strike, Republicans wiped out more than 100 proposed changes. After holding a press conference to speak against the bill, several Democrats returned to voice their opposition to the measure, which has been debated several times in the legislature over the past decade. Lawmakers passed the bill with a vote of 79-35. Two Democrats voted for the ban and two Republicans voted against.
‘You love the fetus in the womb. But when it is born, it is a different response, ”said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter from Orangeburg, the longest-serving member of the House at 29. Cobb-Hunter noted how the General Assembly made the abortion law a priority over education, various COVID-19 bills, and almost everything else, and how some advocates of the ban earlier this year objected to the requirement to wear masks while they were on the house floor. and in committee meetings.
“The government has no mandates for face masks,” sounds very close to me, “the government has nothing to do with telling a woman what to do with her body,” Cobb-Hunter said.
Numerous Republican lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, and many cheered after the vote. Supporters of the ban stood outside the chambers of the House applauding and hugging the lawmakers who had pushed hardest for the measure.
Representative Melissa Lackey Oremus said she was 16 and in the top of her class when she “had a little fun one night – too much” and got pregnant.
The Republican from Aiken, now a 42-year-old mother of three, said she wasn’t sure what to do until she had an ultrasound wand rubbed across her stomach and heard her child’s heartbeat.
“That sound was to me: I had a human in me,” said Oremus. “That sound, it was the most beautiful sound for me. How could I choose to stop that sound, to make it disappear? “
The debate was momentarily halted by a Republican when Rep. Jonathon Hill, apparently angry that his amendments to ban all abortions completely weren’t considered, stormed to the center aisle of the house, threw his amendments in the air and walked out.
Another representative picked up the papers.
“If it had been me, it would have stayed on the floor and I wouldn’t have let him back into the room until he picked it up,” said house president Jay Lucas. “We are a legislative body. We have a debate. We are not children. We don’t get tantrums when we lose. “
Hill was not immediately punished for his behavior.
Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.