SC Senate set to consider a near total abortion ban. Will it pass or lead to an impasse?

Devyani Chhetri, Greenville News
·3 min read
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The ongoing standoff between the South Carolina Senate and House on abortion access will take centerstage Tuesday, April 25 when the Senate returns to debate a near-total abortion ban.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, passing a stricter abortion ban has been a top priority for the General Assembly.

Attempts to pass a total abortion ban failed last year when female GOP Republicans, Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, Penry Gustafson, R-Kershaw, along with Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, banded together with Democrats. They helped stall and ultimately kill a near-total abortion ban. Lawmakers tried to reach a compromise but ended the year with no resolution in sight.

The Senate did not have the votes to pass anything less than a six-week abortion ban.

Will this year be different? It seems unlikely, not unless Senate leadership was able to flip Republican hold outs. Davis said last year that he would filibuster and prevent the bill's passage. He will go up against Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, who has been the chief advocate for the House's version.

More: Greenville woman arrested after allegedly taking abortion pill to end 2021 pregnancy

The current language of the House's abortion bill, H.3744, prohibits all abortions with exceptions for rape, incest and fatal fetal anomaly. Anyone who violates the proposed law will be fined $10,000 or get imprisoned for up to two years, or both. The bill also states a pregnant woman who has an abortion will not be criminally prosecuted or found civilly liable and mandates that the father pay child support.

Previous attempts by House lawmakers such as Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg, included amendments that would remove exceptions for rape and incest. Upstate lawmaker John McCravy, R-Greenwood, said on Feb. 15, 2023, he agreed with removing exceptions but advised against it because he knew the bill wouldn't pass.

Sen. Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield and Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee have urged House lawmakers in the past to consider the Senate's six-week ban. The Senate bill is a recalibrated version of the state's 2021 fetal heartbeat law.

Dig deeper: SC Freedom Caucus wants to change policymaking. GOP Caucus concerned by tactics, direction.

Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, listens to testimony on two bills that would ban a transgender child's access to gender-affirming healthcare and restrict transgender residents from being able to change their gender markers on their birth certificate in Gressette Building at the S.C. State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, listens to testimony on two bills that would ban a transgender child's access to gender-affirming healthcare and restrict transgender residents from being able to change their gender markers on their birth certificate in Gressette Building at the S.C. State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

The bill was tossed out by the SC Supreme Court on Jan. 5, 2023, after it was ruled unconstitutional. The majority opinion authored by outgoing Chief Justice Kaye Hearn, the sole woman on the bench, said the state constitution had privacy rights that extended to a person's choice of opting for an abortion.

The ruling reverted the state to a 2016 law, which bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and does not allow abortions without the presence of a physician or a certified hospital set up during the second trimester.

Lawmakers said in Jan. they were stunned by the ruling. Massey said the state was divided on the issue. "I don't think South Carolina would vote to ban abortion outright, but I also don't think they would vote for five months unrestricted," he said.

If the Senate passes the bill, the state will join Mississippi to be the only other state with an abortion ban that allowed for exceptions. Other southern states such as Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama have banned all abortions with no exceptions.

Devyani Chhetri covers the South Carolina State House and is a watchdog SC government reporter. You can reach her at dchhetri@gannett.com or @ChhetriDevyani. 

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: SC Senate set to consider controversial abortion ban in Columbia