South Carolina: Senators reject a near-total abortion ban

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina senators rejected a ban on almost all abortions Thursday in a special session called in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

The bill to adjust and restrict the current six-week abortion ban passes the Senate in a 27-16 vote, with two of the Republicans who has opposed the near-ban legislation supporting it. Bill now heads back to the House, which had already passed a near-ban with limited exceptions. pic.twitter.com/g3AIlGGjmZ
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Republicans had a majority of votes to pass the ban, but Republican Sen. Tom Davis threatened to filibuster and proponents of the ban were two votes short of the means of ending such a tactic.

Davis, the chief of staff for former Gov. Mark Sanford before being elected to the Senate in 2009, was joined by the three Republican women in the Senate, a fifth GOP colleague and all the chamber’s Democrats to oppose the proposed ban.

Those Republicans at least wanted to wait to see what happens with other states with nearly total bans. They also wanted to give time to see the outcome for a 2021 law passed in South Carolina that bans abortions after about six weeks. That law is on hold as the state Supreme Court decides if it violates a right to privacy in the state constitution.

Senators did pass a few changes to the six-week ban, including cutting the time that victims of rape and incest who become pregnant can seek an abortion from 20 weeks to about 12 weeks.