{"id":10755,"date":"2023-08-23T18:20:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T18:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/south-carolina-six-week-abortion-ban-will-take-effect-as-state-supreme-court-reverses-itself\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T18:20:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T18:20:51","slug":"south-carolina-six-week-abortion-ban-will-take-effect-as-state-supreme-court-reverses-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=10755","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Six-Week Abortion Ban Will Take Effect As State Supreme Court Reverses Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Topline<\/h2>\n

The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state\u2019s six-week abortion ban Wednesday in a 3-2 ruling\u2014after previously striking down a similar ban months earlier\u2014putting the ban into effect and further cutting off access to abortion in the South following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n

Key Facts<\/h2>\n
\n
\n

The state Supreme Court ruled South Carolina\u2019s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is constitutional, meaning the ban will immediately take effect, throwing out a lower court ruling that stopped the law from taking effect after state legislators passed it in May.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The ruling came after the state Supreme Court struck down a previous version of the six-week ban in January, declaring the law unconstitutional, which led lawmakers to pass a revised version of the bill.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The justice who wrote the opinion in that 3-2 decision, Justice Kaye Hearn, has now retired and was replaced on the court, which is now made up entirely of men.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Justice John W. Kittredge wrote for the court that the 2023 law was \u201cmaterially different\u201d enough from the previous law to justify the court reversing course, pointing to new additions in the law like adding reasoning for lawmakers\u2019 judgment to ban abortion after a \u201cfetal heartbeat\u201d is detected\u2014which doctors criticize as being medically misleading\u2014and adding protections for contraception access and Plan B.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad>\n <\/div>\n

\n

Kittredge wrote the law doesn\u2019t violate South Carolina\u2019s constitutional right to privacy because that only outlaws \u201cunreasonable invasions of privacy,\u201d and in the legislature\u2019s judgment, banning abortion after six weeks is not \u201cunreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The ban \u201ctakes away people\u2019s ability to control what happens to their bodies, forcing many South Carolinians to remain pregnant against their will,\u201d Jenny Black, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, one of the plaintiffs behind the lawsuit, said in a statement<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Crucial Quote<\/h2>\n

\u201cTo be sure, the 2023 Act infringes on a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,\u201d Kittredge wrote, but \u201cthe legislature has made a policy determination that, at a certain point in the pregnancy, a woman’s interest in autonomy and privacy does not outweigh the interest of the unborn child to live. As a Court, unless we can say that the balance struck by the legislature was unreasonable as a matter of law, we must uphold the Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Number<\/h2>\n

7,256. That\u2019s the number of abortions performed in South Carolina in 2022, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. That\u2019s up from 6,279 in 2021 and 5,468 in 2020\u2014even as the state temporarily restricted abortion for six weeks before the first law was blocked in court\u2014as the state had become a key access point for abortion in the South.<\/p>\n

What To Watch For<\/h2>\n

Florida, which is now one of the few states in the South where abortion is permissible after six weeks\u2014the state has a 15-week ban in place\u2014could soon follow in South Carolina\u2019s footsteps. The state has enacted a six-week abortion ban, but it can only take effect if the Florida Supreme Court reverses an earlier ruling that found abortion rights are protected in the state Constitution. It\u2019s still unclear when the court could rule, but a majority of the court was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suggesting they could be favorable to upholding his policy.<\/p>\n

Key Background<\/h2>\n

The U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has sparked a wave of state-level abortion bans, particularly in the South. With Wednesday\u2019s ruling, 17 states now have strict abortion bans in place, with Georgia and South Carolina banning the procedure after six weeks and the rest completely outlawing it. The Supreme Court ruling there\u2019s no federal right to an abortion has led abortion clinics and abortion rights advocates to turn to state courts to fight bans, arguing as in South Carolina that laws violate state constitutions, including their rights to privacy. The legal challenges have resulted in a number of state bans being halted, with laws currently blocked in court in Iowa, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Judge Pauses South Carolina\u2019s 6-Week Abortion Ban\u2014For Now (Forbes)<\/p>\n

South Carolina Prepares To Ban Abortions After 6 Weeks\u2014But Court Challenges Could Follow (Forbes)<\/p>\n

100 Days Since Roe V. Wade Was Overturned: The 11 Biggest Consequences (Forbes)<\/p>\n

How Americans Really Feel About Abortion: The Sometimes Surprising Poll Results One Year After Roe Overturned (Forbes)<\/p>\n

Roe V. Wade Overturned One Year On: Here\u2019s Where The Money\u2019s Going (Forbes)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n