South Carolina abortion ban bill stalls in Senate subcommittee

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Senate subcommittee refused to advance South Carolina’s most restrictive abortion ban proposal Tuesday after an hours-long hearing that split Republicans.

The nine-member Medical Affairs subcommittee voted 3-2 along party lines against moving forward the “Unborn Child Protection Act,” with four Republicans abstaining from the vote.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, would ban abortions from conception and only allow them to save the mother’s life. South Carolina currently bans most abortions after around six weeks into pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies and to save the mother’s life.

Republican divisions emerge over criminalization

Two provisions in the bill created serious divisions among the subcommittee’s Republican majority.

The first would criminalize women who get abortions in South Carolina, putting them behind bars for up to 30 years.

“A law without penalty has no teeth, no deterring effect,” Cash said.

Sen. Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood, disagreed.

“Punishing a mother is a road or a bridge too far,” Garrett said.

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The second provision would impose up to three decades in prison for anyone who helps women access an abortion, including providing information about where the procedure is legal.

“I have a hard time supporting a bill with a section in it that basically says what you can and can’t talk to somebody about,” said Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville.

Cash defended the provision.

“We have to have a mindset that you don’t have a right to provide information to someone on how to kill an innocent person,” Cash said.

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Democrats oppose bill entirely

Democrats uniformly opposed the restrictive proposal. Efforts to roll back the strict provisions failed, with the three Democrats on the subcommittee voting with a few hardline Republicans to keep them in place.

“The bill was bad. You can’t make something bad better by voting for things,” said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, the Senate minority leader.

Bill could still advance

While the outcome represents a major setback for supporters, it does not kill the proposal outright.

“There are ways the bill could still gain footing going forward,” Hutto said. “This is a pretty strong indication that there is no unanimity, or not even unanimity — there is no consensus to move this bill forward in the current state that it’s in.”

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey recently told reporters there has been no discussion within the Republican caucus on abortion for next session.

Gov. Henry McMaster has said he believes South Carolina’s existing six-week ban is sufficient.