Access to abortion is still declining in the United States. South Carolina voted Tuesday to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, drastically limiting access, despite a political battle against the bill led by the only five women in the local Senate, including Republicans.
Republicans had tried several times to pass the bill in the upper house of the southeastern US state, which is composed mostly of men. They were met with stubborn opposition from the five senators. Three of them, Republicans, had not hesitated to defy the instructions of their party.
During the debates, Republican Sandy Senn accused her male colleagues of "symbolically slapping women by raising the issue of abortion again and again."
Abortion banned in fifteen states
But senators opposed to abortion finally gathered enough votes to vote for this measure. It will have a significant impact on access to abortion because, at six weeks of pregnancy, many women do not yet know they are pregnant.
Before becoming law, it must be signed by Republican Governor Henry McMaster. But the latter has made no secret of his intentions. "I look forward to signing this text to make it a law as soon as possible," he said on Twitter, judging that his state would protect "more innocent lives".
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down constitutional protection of abortion rights last June, leaving states free to legislate on the issue. Since then, about fifteen have banned it on their soil.
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South Carolina, surrounded by several states that had outlawed abortion, had become a haven for women seeking abortions. So much so that local Republican elected officials have made it an argument to defend its ban. The state has "become the abortion capital of the Southeast," said Senator Shane Massey.
For the same reasons, the vote was unanimously condemned by associations defending the right to abortion. "This is a devastating decision for the people of South Carolina, and for an entire region where access to abortion for patients continues to decline," said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the powerful family planning organization Planned Parenthood.
However, she assured that politicians "will not have the last word", promising to take legal action.