Senate committee removes some exceptions in Abortion Ban Bill during Tuesday’s meeting

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Last week, the House passed an Abortion Ban Bill with exceptions in the case of rape and incest.

Tuesday, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee reviewed this bill before it heads to the Senate floor and made changes of their own.

“I think for the vast majority of South Carolinians are somewhere in the middle between these two polar extremes,” said Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican from Beaufort. “One says that once fertilized, it must be protected at all costs. The other extreme says women have the right to abort up until the moment of delivery.  I don’t think that’s where most South Carolinians are.”

An amendment added last week by the House that provides an exception for abortion in the case of rape and incest was struck down by a 7 to 3 vote by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee. Some Senators chose not to vote at all.

“I’m 100 percent pro choice,” said Sen. Kevin Johnson, a Democrat from Clarendon County. “I abstain because I don’t think I’ll vote for any amendment, but when the bill comes up I’ll be voting against it because it’s not a pro-choice bill.”

This move was criticized by one Republican senator. 

“My friends in the opposite party talked about protecting a woman’s right to choose. The chance came to make this bill less restrictive and they didn’t,” said Sen. Mike Gambrell, a Republican from Anderson.

Sen. Davis spoke about clarifying some of the language in the bill, saying that some of the bill contradicts itself. 

“When you’re passing a law saying you can’t abort a baby that will be born dead, don’t you think a logical inference is that you have to carry it to term,” Davis asked his colleagues.

Senators also discussed whether the bill would ban Plan B as a form of contraception. 

“All the OBGYN’s I’ve talked to say you won’t know you’re pregnant until a couple weeks after fertilization. Plan B is taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. It is not in conflict with the language I don’t believe,” said Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican from Anderson. 

Sen. Cash also disagreed with his Republican colleague Sen. Davis. Davis said that it would be a good idea for the state to provide contraceptives for those in poor and rural areas.

“In my opinion, what you’re doing is breaking down people’s moral standards and training to save sexual relations until marriage,” Cash said.

The full Senate is set to take the bill up Wednesday at 10 am.