Republican lawmaker shifts stance on S.C. abortion ban
Rep. Neal Collins said he opposed a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in South Carolina. The bill was approved and is now headed to the state House floor for a vote.
Video Transcript
NEAL COLLINS: The second week that this-- that the Fetal Heartbeat Bill became law, a doctor called me. A 19-year-old girl appeared at the ER. She was 15 weeks pregnant. Her water broke. The fetus was unviable. The attorneys told the doctors that because of the Fetal Heartbeat Bill-- because that 15-week-old had a heartbeat-- the doctors could not extract.
They discharged that 19-year-old. The doctor told me at that point there is a 50% chance-- well, first she's going to pass this fetus in the toilet. She's going to have to deal with that on her own. There's a 50% chance-- greater than 50% chance that she's going to lose her uterus. There's a 10% chance that she will develop sepsis and herself, die.
That weighs on me. I voted for that bill. These are affecting people. Out of respect for the process, I'm not voting today. But I want it to be clear that myself and many others are not in a position to vote for this bill without significant changes to the bill.
