South Carolina Tried to Pass a Bill Jailing Women for Abortion. No Republican Voted Against It.

"The bill would have banned abortion from the moment a pregnancy is " clinically diagnosable "-a term used to ensure the bill wouldn't sweep in contraceptives or IVF. The law would have subjected women who have abortions to prison sentences of up to 30 years; criminalized the act of providing information about how to get an abortion, even in another state; allowed family members to sue women who had abortions; and eliminated exceptions for rape and incest."

"The second hearing on the bill was a coup for self-proclaimed anti-abortion abolitionists. The abolitionists argue that if the unborn really are rights-holding persons, then punishing women is both a constitutional imperative and a logical necessity. The bill's stalling is a sign that abolitionists may seem to be on the back foot. But the story in South Carolina is more complex, and it focuses on the incremental mainstreaming of extreme anti-abortion positions."

"The state senator pushing the bill, Richard Cash, is a giant in the state's anti-abortion movement. Cash helped to shepherd the state's current ban, which applies the moment fetal cardiac activity can be detected, through passage. He had long led an anti-abortion organization, Personhood South Carolina, which aims to restore "Constitutional protection for all human beings beginning at the moment of fertilization ... because they are created in the image of God." Cash's group ran an ultimately successful campaign to defeat several female state senators who had objected to the state's abortion ban. Now, he's turned to a law that would criminally punish women."

South Carolina legislators debated a bill that would ban abortion from the moment a pregnancy is "clinically diagnosable," a phrase intended to avoid sweeping in contraceptives or IVF. The bill would impose up to 30-year prison terms for women who have abortions, criminalize providing information about obtaining an abortion even out of state, allow family members to sue women, and remove rape and incest exceptions. The second hearing energized anti-abortion abolitionists who argue unborn persons deserve constitutional protection and that punishing women follows logically. State senator Richard Cash and Personhood South Carolina have driven increasingly extreme, incremental measures in state politics.

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