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COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – The governor of South Carolina on Thursday signed a bill banning most abortions, one of his top priorities since taking office more than four years ago. Planned Parenthood immediately took legal action, effectively preventing the new law from coming into effect.
South Carolina’s Fetal Heart Rate and Abortion Protection Act is similar to the laws against abortion that a dozen states have already passed. All are tied up in court. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently permits abortion.
“There are a lot of happy hearts beating across South Carolina right now,” Republican Gov. Henry McMaster proclaimed in a ceremony at the Statehouse attended by lawmakers who made the proposal a reality.
Immediately after signing the invoice, a group of lawmakers and members of the public, standing side by side and wearing masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus, began chanting the words “Praise be to God” to the tune of “Amazing Grace”.
On Wednesday, the House passed the bill by 79 votes to 35 after hours of moving speeches from supporters and opponents, and gave final approval to the measure on Thursday. Moments after Thursday’s vote, Planned Parenthood announced that it was taking legal action. South Carolina’s law, like those of other currently challenged states, is “patently unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
Supporters of restrictive abortion laws are trying to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes that – with three justices appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump – the court could overthrow Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision supporting the right to abortion. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that abortion is legal until a fetus is viable outside the womb – months after a heartbeat can be detected, Black noted.
State bills to restrict or ban abortion “are patently absurd,” she said. “There is no other way around this.”
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released a statement Thursday saying his office “will vigorously defend this law in the courts because there is nothing more important than protecting life.” He stood near McMaster as the Governor signed the bill.
Abortion opponents lobbied for the ban for years, but he found himself stuck on a procedural hurdle in the Senate. Republicans won three Senate seats in the November election and the bill was titled “Senate Bill # 1” show that it was the top priority.
“We’re about to do what I’ve been trying to do for 25 years: shut down the abortion industry in South Carolina,” Republican Senator Larry Grooms said moments before the governor signed off on the bill. of law.
Democrats say Republicans wasted taxpayer money passing a bill that everyone knew would be challenged in court. They also argue that bigger issues need their attention, such as COVID-19, health care and education.
“We are tired of hypocrisy,” said parliamentary minority leader Todd Rutherford. Rutherford said Democrats are also fed up with lawmakers across the aisle telling them they don’t care about life.
“We care about life until death. We care about the birth. … We care that people eat, people don’t die because they can’t get vaccinated, ”he said.
The lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights argues that South Carolina’s new law “is in flagrant violation of nearly five decades of precedent set by the Supreme Court.” The costume indicates that a high rate of women, especially African American women, die during or immediately after childbirth in South Carolina. The abortion ban would be more difficult for low-income women, who could not travel to a neighboring state where abortion is still permitted, according to the lawsuit.
A hearing to determine whether the law should be stayed while the trial is heard is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Like Democratic lawmakers, Black said the focus on abortion wasted not only money fighting established law, but ignored a host of other important issues as well.
“If lawmakers are truly interested in improving lives, we have a long list of priorities they can focus on,” she said.
South Carolina law requires doctors to perform ultrasound scans to check the fetal heart rate. If detected, abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or if the mother’s life is in danger.
The measure does not punish a pregnant woman for having had an illegal abortion, but the person who performed the abortion could be charged with a felony, sentenced for up to two years and fined $ 10,000 if she is. found guilty.
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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.
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