On Tuesday, the South Carolina House of Representatives approved a piece of legislation that outlaws abortion with exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
The bill passed by a vote of 67-38 It allows abortions up to 12 weeks gestation if a pregnant women was raped or if the woman’s life is in danger (via CBS News):
The bill allows abortions up to 12 weeks after conception if a women tells a doctor she was raped. The doctor has to tell the woman he is going to report the rape to the county sheriff and has 24 hours after the procedure to give deputies the woman's name and contact information. It also allows abortions to save a mother's life.
Some of the House's most conservative lawmakers said Monday they would not support a bill with the rape and incest exceptions, but when it came to a final vote, they changed their minds.
"But here's the thing — at the end of the day we passed a good pro-life bill in South Carolina," said Republican Rep. John McCravy, who shepherded the bill through the chamber.
The bill has one more vote before it goes to the state Senate.
Late last month, Townhall covered how a judge allowed South Carolina’s current six week abortion ban to continue after abortion providers and advocates challenged it. Similar to lawsuits filed in other states, such as Wyoming and Mississippi, the abortion supporters argued that the six-week law protecting the unborn violates the state’s constitution.
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Last month, Townhall reported how a similar six-week law in Georgia took effect immediately after a court ruling. Women who were at clinics waiting for an abortion were sent home.
The Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and paved the way for red states to pass pro-life laws.
In the Dobbs majority opinion, the Supreme Court justices wrote that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to abortion and determined that Roe and Casey were wrongly decided.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the opinion stated.
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