South-Carolina

South Carolina Six-Week Abortion Ban Will Take Effect As State Supreme Court Reverses Itself

Published

1 year ago

August 23, 2023

South Carolina Six-Week Abortion Ban Will Take Effect As State Supreme Court Reverses Itself

Topline

The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban Wednesday in a 3-2 ruling—after previously striking down a similar ban months earlier—putting the ban into effect and further cutting off access to abortion in the South following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Pro-abortion rights activists protest before the South Carolina Senate passed a ban on abortion … [+] after six weeks of pregnancy at the South Carolina Statehouse on May 23 in Columbia, South Carolina.

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Key Facts

The state Supreme Court ruled South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is constitutional, meaning the ban will immediately take effect, throwing out a lower court ruling that stopped the law from taking effect after state legislators passed it in May.

The ruling came after the state Supreme Court struck down a previous version of the six-week ban in January, declaring the law unconstitutional, which led lawmakers to pass a revised version of the bill.

The justice who wrote the opinion in that 3-2 decision, Justice Kaye Hearn, has now retired and was replaced on the court, which is now made up entirely of men.

Justice John W. Kittredge wrote for the court that the 2023 law was “materially different” enough from the previous law to justify the court reversing course, pointing to new additions in the law like adding reasoning for lawmakers’ judgment to ban abortion after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected—which doctors criticize as being medically misleading—and adding protections for contraception access and Plan B.

Kittredge wrote the law doesn’t violate South Carolina’s constitutional right to privacy because that only outlaws “unreasonable invasions of privacy,” and in the legislature’s judgment, banning abortion after six weeks is not “unreasonable.”

The ban “takes away people’s ability to control what happens to their bodies, forcing many South Carolinians to remain pregnant against their will,” Jenny Black, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, one of the plaintiffs behind the lawsuit, said in a statement Wednesday.

Crucial Quote

“To be sure, the 2023 Act infringes on a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,” Kittredge wrote, but “the legislature has made a policy determination that, at a certain point in the pregnancy, a woman’s interest in autonomy and privacy does not outweigh the interest of the unborn child to live. As a Court, unless we can say that the balance struck by the legislature was unreasonable as a matter of law, we must uphold the Act.”

Big Number

7,256. That’s the number of abortions performed in South Carolina in 2022, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. That’s up from 6,279 in 2021 and 5,468 in 2020—even as the state temporarily restricted abortion for six weeks before the first law was blocked in court—as the state had become a key access point for abortion in the South.

What To Watch For

Florida, which is now one of the few states in the South where abortion is permissible after six weeks—the state has a 15-week ban in place—could soon follow in South Carolina’s footsteps. The state has enacted a six-week abortion ban, but it can only take effect if the Florida Supreme Court reverses an earlier ruling that found abortion rights are protected in the state Constitution. It’s still unclear when the court could rule, but a majority of the court was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suggesting they could be favorable to upholding his policy.

Key Background

The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has sparked a wave of state-level abortion bans, particularly in the South. With Wednesday’s ruling, 17 states now have strict abortion bans in place, with Georgia and South Carolina banning the procedure after six weeks and the rest completely outlawing it. The Supreme Court ruling there’s no federal right to an abortion has led abortion clinics and abortion rights advocates to turn to state courts to fight bans, arguing as in South Carolina that laws violate state constitutions, including their rights to privacy. The legal challenges have resulted in a number of state bans being halted, with laws currently blocked in court in Iowa, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming.

Dawn Staley’s $25M extension ensures she will remain force in women’s basketball

Published

4 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Dawn Staley’s M extension ensures she will remain force in women’s basketball

The notification popped up on Aliyah Boston’s phone late Friday morning, moments before she left the locker room and headed to the Unrivaled practice court.

South Carolina’s legendary coach Dawn Staley had signed a $25 million extension that locked her in through the 2029-30 season and made the Hall of Famer the richest coach in women’s college basketball history.

Boston almost texted Staley to ask where her college coach was planning to take her to dinner to celebrate. But Boston’s congratulatory message would have to wait until after shootaround.

“That’s pretty dope,” Boston said. “What Coach Staley has done for women’s basketball and how much she just advocates for us, especially, for one, being an investor in Unrivaled, you see how much she puts into the sport, and so I’m so glad that it’s coming back for her.”

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South-Carolina

Ford Records World Lead at Corky Classic

Published

12 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Ford Records World Lead at Corky Classic

LUBBOCK, Texas (Jan. 17, 2025) – South Carolina Track & Field standout JaMeesia Ford paced the Gamecocks in the opening day of the Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas.

South Carolina won a pair of events on the first day, led by a new world-leading time in the women’s 400 meter sprint by Ford. The Fayetteville, N.C. native clocked 51.20 to win the event, posting the second best time in Gamecock indoor history. In addition, Ford’s time ranks first in the NCAA this season. Ford’s teammate, Zaya Akins, also posted a new personal best in the 400m, running 52.15 to place third overall in the event. Akins’ new personal best time also ranks third in the NCAA and is currently third in the world standings.

The Gamecock women competed in just two field events with Omaria Gordon recording a new personal best in the women’s long jump for the third consecutive meet. The freshman jumper posted a mark of 6.19m (20-3.75) for the seventh best indoor long jump in program history, finishing fifth overall.

South Carolina’s men’s team captured one win as well, as Channing Ferguson secured the title in the men’s long jump. The All-American athlete jumped 7.47m (24-6.25) for the win, recording the seventh best jump in program history and ranking 16th in the NCAA.

All three Gamecocks who ran the men’s 400m set new personal best times, led by Josiah Wrice who clocked 46.38 for the sixth best indoor time in program history. In addition, Wrice’s 400m debut currently ranks him fifth on the NCAA leaderboard.

The Gamecocks will return to action tomorrow in the final day of the 2025 Corky Classic. The first event for South Carolina will be at noon (EST) with the women’s 200 meter sprint.

Men’s Individual Results
60 Meters (Prelims)
19. Antwan Hughes Jr. – 6.77q
21. Anthony Greenhow – 6.80q

60 Meters (Semis)
18. Antwan Hughes Jr. – 6.76
21. Anthony Greenhow – 6.83

400 Meters
4. Josiah Wrice – 46.38*
10. Devan Crumpton – 47.04*
19. Jasauna Dennis – 47.44*

60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
10. David Warmington – 7.92q

60-Meter Hurdles (Semis)
15. David Warmington – 7.95

Long Jump
1. Channing Ferguson – 7.47m/24-6.25

Women’s Individual Results
60 Meters (Prelims)
9. Cynteria James – 7.40Q
13. McKenzie Travis – 7.42q*
17. Jayla Jamison – 7.46Q

60 Meters (Semis)
9. Cynteria James – 7.31*
11. Jayla Jamison – 7.35
17. McKenzie Travis – 7.44

400 Meters
1. JaMeesia Ford – 51.20*
3. Zaya Akins – 52.15*

60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
18. Kennedy Flynn – 8.66q

60-Meter Hurdles (Semis)
17. Kennedy Flynn – 8.66

Long Jump
5. Omaria Gordon – 6.19m/20-3.75*

Pole Vault
12. Lena Richardson – 3.76m/12-4
— Emma Stone – NH

* – denotes indoor PR

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South-Carolina

Dawn Staley contract: Everything South Carolina coach said about record salary, impact on team

Published

20 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Dawn Staley contract: Everything South Carolina coach said about record salary, impact on team

COLUMBIA — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley is the highest-paid coach in the history of women’s college basketball as of Friday with a new contract that takes effect immediately and will run through 2029-30.

Staley, who won her third national championship at South Carolina in 2024, will receive an annual salary of $4 million with a $250,000 increase every season and a $500,000 signing bonus that makes the total value approximately $25.25 million.

“I’ve never been driven by money at all, never, ever,” Staley said on Friday afternoon. “Money is the byproduct of your success and your ability to work hard and be successful in your space. I do think it represents what can be in other professions that women for whatever reason are not paid for doing the same type of work, for the same type of job and I think this is an example of what it can look like, feel like, sound like and I hope everybody is happy about it for what it represents.”

Before the new contract, LSU coach Kim Mulkey was the highest-paid coach at $3,264,000.

Staley’s salary was the third-highest among women’s college basketball coaches, according to the USA TODAY Sports database from March 2024 but both she and UConn coach Geno Auriemma were making $3.1 million in terms of total pay.

“I think what it represents is, we play to a certain standard and I do think when we are able to get a raise like this, it’s to your standard,” Staley said. “I don’t think anyone expects us to play lower than our standard and we haven’t. Rewarded is a hard work for me because it’s earned. When you’ve done what you’re suppose to do and well above what you’re suppose to do you should be paid accordingly.”

Although she said she doesn’t usually share this kind of information with her players unless they ask, she did talk about what a contract like this may mean to them down the line.

“There’s going to be a time in their lives where they’re going to feel like they’re doing a job and they are getting paid less,” Staley said. “How to handle those instances. It’s a fight no matter what, it’s a fight … it’s a fight to explain to people what your worth is. You have to do some comparisons with coaches here, and coaches in other spaces and it’s the way it is, it’s negotiations. Our negotiations as women are a little bit different because we are valued a little bit different but I think when it’s all said and done, it’s the same things you apply to this game … negotiations are a game … you go back and forth.”

Staley said former athletic director Ray Tanner, who had been working as AD until a little over a month ago, played a huge role making her new contract happen and that current athletic director Jeremiah Donati came in towards the end.

“It took a while for it to happen, a long time and fortunately we got to this great place that makes me look good but it makes our University and athletic department look great in the grand scheme of things,” Staley said. “Ray Tanner did a great job, ran a hard bargain.”

On the men’s side, Kansas coach Bill Self was the highest-paid coach as of March 2024 with a total pay of $9,625,624. In March, South Carolina men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris was given a six-year deal that pays him $26.25 million over the life of the contract, or an average of $4.375 million per year.

“The board of trustees did something that is extraordinary because it really just doesn’t happen but I’m glad it’s South Carolina, our University and our board, that no matter what, we look good,” Staley said. “I’m glad I am the person to be able to handle it because I truly don’t care about the money, I do care about the principle of it. Don’t care about the money but it’s the right thing to do though.”

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

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