South Carolina’s near-total abortion ban fails to advance out of subcommittee

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — The State Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee continued discussions about Senate Bill 323 – a proposed near-total abortion ban.

The controversial bill creates new definitions for human life, contraception and makes abortion a felony. The bill also removes current exceptions for rape, incest and fatal fetal anomaly written into the state’s six-week ban.

On Tuesday, a motion to send a favorable report on Senate Bill 323 to the full medical affairs committee failed 3-2, with four members abstaining.

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The motion came after three hours of discussion of possible amendments to the bill. Some proposals sought to remove criminal and civil protections for pregnant mothers, or return to state law that took precedent before Roe v. Wade became precedent in the 1970s.

Those amendments failed to pass.

The bill’s author, State Sen. Richard Cash, chairman of the Medical Affairs Subcommittee, defended the bill as written – claiming abortion is the number one issue in the state.

“I believe it’s our first duty as elected officials to bring an end to it, to protect innocent human life, life, liberty, property,” Cash said. “The rights are in that order. It is our duty to protect innocent life.”

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State Sen. Billy Garrett, one of the bill’s original sponsors, abstained. At one point in the meeting, he said he wants to protect the unborn. However, he was against criminalizing mothers.

“I’m extremely in favor of saving babies’ lives,” Garrett said. “I’ll always be that way. My constituents are that way. They asked me to be that way, and I am, but I have never intended, nor should any of us ever intend to, to punish or be punitive towards our moms.”

Sen. Tom Fernandez and Sen. Cash voted in support of the bill. Sens. Deon Tedder, Ronnie Saab and Brad Hutto voted against it. Sens. Garrett, Matt Leber, Thomas Corbin and Jeff Zell abstained.

“This is an enormous victory for reproductive freedom and for the people of South Carolina,” said Dr. Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN). “This outcome was made possible because thousands of South Carolinians stood up, spoke out, and refused to allow their rights and their futures to be stripped away.”