Imagine living in a state where lawmakers are proposing to force pregnant people to bear the infants of their rapists. That’s the current hope of Republican lawmakers in South Carolina, who are currently debating a total ban on abortion care that does precisely that. It’s not enough to control their constituents’ bodies; now they’re attempting to control the outcomes of their lives as survivors of horrific and criminal assault.
Tuesday, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted 9-8 in favor of a near-total abortion ban. The Republican men on the committee voted 7-3 to remove all exceptions—even in cases of rape or incest. The Democrats refused to vote on the extreme amendment in the hopes of killing it. The bill will be debated by the 30 Republicans and 16 Democrats in the state Senate and voted on Wednesday.
State Democratic Sen. Marlon Kimpson said, “This is a bad bill,” when explaining why he withheld his vote. “You can’t put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. Exceptions do not make abortion restrictions less harmful. We, as lawmakers, should not be in a position to decide who gets an abortion and who does not get an abortion.”
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Politico reports that the extreme amendment to the bill was added last week. Since it is different than the bill approved by the House, it returns for a final vote.
Just before the vote was tallied Tuesday, Senate minority leader Brad Hutto said:
“You’re asking us to adopt these policies in an attempt to make a really, really bad bill a little bit better. [...] And we’re just not gonna participate in that, and I hope you respect that. And maybe you don’t understand. But those of us who abstained from voting on your amendments was not because your amendments are not worthy of our consideration. And as standalone bills next year, I can tell you I would support every single one of them. [...] But this is an awful bill. I just can’t say that enough. What we’ve witnessed here is the Republican majority’s attempt to impose an extreme total ban on abortion on women in South Carolina.”
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ABC News reports that state Republican Sen. Richard Cash has had a total abortion ban in his sights for the entire five years he’s been in office.
“If you are over the age of 13, we kind of expect you to have sex. We’re going to provide you with all the contraceptives you are going to need," Cash said, responding to Davis’ proposed plan to make contraceptives available to minors with the consent of their parents or guardians. “It borders on encouraging immorality.”
Last week, the same bill appeared to falter in the House. After a few Republican machinations and several votes, the bill moved forward with the exceptions for rape and incest victims up to the 12th week of pregnancy, per ABC News.
South Carolina recently adopted a six-week “fetal heartbeat” law. This ban is currently on hold while the state’s Supreme Court debates whether or not it violates the constitutional right to privacy.
South Carolina’s HB 5399 law currently operates under the 20-week abortion ban with only limited exceptions to prevent the death of a pregnant person because of a physical condition or “the substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.” Risks to the pregnant person include molar pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, severe preeclampsia, and miscarriage.
The committee’s new proposal includes a requirement that the father of the fetus must pay child support beginning on the date of conception and half of all expenses related to the pregnancy. Additionally, the rapist must pay the full cost of mental health services following the attack, Yahoo News reports.
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