SC attorney general joins multi-state effort to overturn Roe v. Wade

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Twenty-four state attorneys general have filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion legal in the United States.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said he joined the amicus brief filing because Roe v. Wade “has no basis in the Constitution and has led to nothing but confusion in the courts.”

The filing specifically supports Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks, which is the test case now challenging the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade.

Back in May, Supreme Court justices agreed to hear arguments on whether Mississippi’s law, and others like it, are unconstitutional.

South Carolina’s General Assembly passed the Fetal Heartbeat Bill in February 2021 and Gov. Henry McMaster quickly signed it into law. That law, which would ban abortions in the state once a heartbeat is detected, is mired in court challenges and has not gone into effect.

Lower courts have essentially blocked all such laws from taking effect, leaving it up to the Supreme Court to decide.

This new effort from attorneys general goes further than any before, blatantly asking the court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“There are rulings the Supreme Court made that were overturned decades later because of new information or the realization that the previous rulings were wrong. We think that’s what should happen with Roe v. Wade,” Wilson said. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that justifies abortions and, in fact, we believe abortion violates the constitutional rights to life and equal protection.”

Texas led the amicus brief. Along with South Carolina, the following states joined the filing: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Read the brief in full by clicking or tapping here.

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