South Carolina judge temporarily blocks six-week abortion ban
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[May 27, 2023]
By Julia Harte
(Reuters) - A South Carolina judge on Friday temporarily blocked the
state's new law that bans most abortions after about six weeks, ruling
that it should be considered by the state Supreme Court before taking
effect.
State Circuit Judge Clifton Newman granted reproductive rights groups'
motion to block the legislation, which Republican Governor Henry
McMaster signed into law on Thursday. The judge's ruling allows a
previous law permitting abortions up to around 22 weeks to stay in
effect until the state's highest court has reviewed the new ban,
according to local media reports.
If the measure survives court challenges, it will cut off a flow of
women from nearby southern states with more restrictive abortion laws
who have been coming to South Carolina for care since the U.S. Supreme
Court revoked federal abortion rights in June 2022.
The six-week abortion ban blocked on Friday is a revised version of
another measure that the state Supreme Court struck down in a 3-2
decision in January, saying it violated the right to privacy enshrined
in the state's constitution.
One of the Supreme Court justices in the majority on that decision has
since retired, leaving it unclear how the court will rule on the new
measure.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/27/images/ads/current/rohlfs_sda_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
Republican state lawmakers defending the bill said in legislative
hearings this week that the measure remedied the errors that caused the
state Supreme Court to strike down its predecessor.
"I hope that the Supreme Court will take this matter up without delay,"
McMaster said in a Twitter post on Friday, vowing to "continue fighting
to protect the lives of the unborn."
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![](../images/052723PIX/health13.jpg)
Anti-abortion supporters react to South
Carolina state senators passing a six week abortion ban at the state
legislature in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. May 23, 2023.
REUTERS/Sam Wolfe
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/27/images/ads/current/heartlandcollege_lda_050123.png) A spokesperson for Planned
Parenthood, one of the groups that sued to block the new law,
celebrated the judge's ruling.
"This is good news for the women of SC today," wrote Vicki Ringer in
a Twitter post.
Opponents of the six-week ban, including three female Republican
state lawmakers, said it would increase illegal abortions by not
giving pregnant people sufficient time to get them legally.
"We in the South Carolina legislature are not God, we do not know
what is going on in someone else's life, we do not have the right to
make decisions for someone else," said Republican state Senator
Katrina Shealy during a Tuesday debate on the measure.
If upheld by the state Supreme Court, the six-week ban would allow
abortions up to 12 weeks in cases of rape and incest, and provide an
exception for medical emergencies.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Frances
Kerry)
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