The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state constitution's right to privacy was violated by the abortion ban.
The legislation was signed into law by the governor. The ban included exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest or pregnancies that endanger the patient's life. Legal challenges have gone through both state and federal courts since then.
The State has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with their decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman enough time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to end her The Act violates the state constitution's prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy because it takes six weeks for these two things to happen.
South Carolina does not allow most abortions at less than 20 weeks.
The law's supporters and opponents both have cause for celebration. Those seeking abortions in the state have seen the legal window expand to the previous limit of 20 weeks before reverting to the previous restrictions.
The law had been suspended before. The restrictions took place for a short time after the Supreme Court overturned the case. The Supreme Court temporarily blocked it in August due to a new challenge.
There was a lot of activity at the state level after the high court's decision. Republican-dominated states moved ahead with new restrictions. The South Carolina constitution has a right to privacy, and that is what led to the lawsuit by the organization. Religious freedom has been challenged in other states.
Lawyers for the state Legislature argue that the right to privacy should be narrowly construed. They argued during oral arguments that lawmakers intended to protect against searches and seizures when they voted to grant the right. Attorneys for the challengers say the right to privacy includes abortion. The right to bodily autonomy was already extended by the Supreme Court.
Future changes were left open by the justices. During the special session on abortion, the state House and Senate couldn't agree on any new restrictions. Despite some Republican leaders insistence no agreement is possible, a small but growing group of conservative lawmakers have vowed to push that envelope once more.
The chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party said in a statement that the ruling was a voice of reason and sanity to temper the Republicans' legislative actions to strip rights away from women and doctors.
The speaker wrote that the state justices followed the path of the U.S. Supreme Court when they created a constitutional right to abortion. The decision didn't respect the separation of powers.
That's right.
A writer for the Associated Press contributed to the report. Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press. A program called Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.
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