“Our numbers are increasing exponentially. That is because South Carolina has become an abortion destination state because our laws are significantly weaker than anyone around us,” Massey alleged, referring to Georgia and Tennessee.
Democrats argue that the decision to bring the bill before the court again is just another “reaction to rein another body in.”
“It is a reaction by this body to our Supreme Court’s decision protecting a woman’s right to privacy,” Democratic Sen. Margie Bright Matthews said.
The revised bill, similar to the bill struck down by the Supreme Court, bans abortion from the time a “fetal heartbeat” is detected. It allows for an exception to save the life of a pregnant person—up to 12 weeks’ gestation—and in the case of a diagnosed fatal fetal anomaly. Survivors of sexual assault, including rape and incest, are allowed access to an abortion before 20 weeks’ gestation—with the caveat that victims are required to report the crimes to law enforcement.
The new bill additionally adds that doctors who perform an abortion must supply documentation proving fatal fetal anomaly, are required to hold on to a patient’s record for a minimum of seven years after the abortion or face prison time, and defines pregnancy as the time when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus, reports WIS-10 News.
“The revisions that we propose here are directed at addressing concerns that the justices raised and in fact relied on in forming their opinions,” Massey said.
House Republicans in the state advanced an even more prohibitive bill Tuesday titled the “Human Life Protection Bill,” which would also ban abortion from conception and, like the Senate bill, criminalizes abortion providers but not patients.
In November, Daily Kos’ Aysha Qamar wrote about a woman by the name of Jill Perry.
“A former Republican, Perry shared her story through the Ivy Grace Project, a project created in honor of her unborn child, who she wanted to name Ivy Grace. Perry started the project to bring awareness to fetal anomaly diagnoses within abortion care. Through her story, she noted how while many believe abortion is selfish, in her heart, she knew she was ‘doing the most selfless thing possible,’” Qamar wrote.
“Speaking to Jezebel, she said that talking about Ivy’s diagnosis ‘is giving her death meaning,’ and ‘helping other women not feeling alienated and alone, that they made the best decision for themselves and their children.’”
How can you tell when a poll is actually high quality? Natalie Jackson, research director at PRRI, joins us on this week's episode of The Downballot to discuss that and more. Jackson tells us the indicators she looks for to determine whether a survey is worth taking seriously, what she thinks the future of polling aggregation ought to look like, and why white evangelical Christians are the real outliers when it comes to religious groups' views on abortion.
Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also break down Democrats' big special election victories in Pennsylvania; new efforts by progressives to pick their preferred GOP opponents in two key Wisconsin races; the first true retirement from the House this cycle; and a proposal to increase the size of the House, which has been capped at 435 members for more than a century.
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