A news analysis by Andy Brack | With a new South Carolina ban on abortion after 19 weeks now securely in place, don’t expect anti-abortion advocates to rest on their laurels. But don’t expect abortion rights supporters to keep quiet either.
For the foreseeable future, the politics of abortion will be much the same with protests from both sides at the Statehouse and approval of anti-abortion bills by the GOP-led legislature just in time for primary elections as a way to burnish credentials of incumbents who might need help at the polls.
“The ultimate goal [is] to outlaw abortion entirely, if not outright, by making it impossible to access,” one abortion rights official told Statehouse Report.
Earlier this week, Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill that bans abortion after 19 weeks. The only exceptions are if the mother’s life is in jeopardy or if a fetal anomaly is likely to produce a stillborn. Not exempt from the law now in effect: pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Those who want women to be able to choose whether to have an abortion will continue to oppose attempts to weaken constitutional protection outlined in Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision from 1973.
Those against abortion will continue to fight with vocal protests outside clinics and by getting friendly lawmakers to introduce legislation to chip away at abortion. Bills already expected to be introduced early next year range from defining fetuses as people to regulations that make it almost impossible for health care providers to offer women’s reproductive health services.
Opponents’ battles, however, are taking on a new phase, too, according to a May 17 article in Governing. “Anti-abortion groups have gotten stealthier,” the story said, highlighting how they’re trying to cripple clinics financially by making complaints that require frequent inspections.
The tactic got a lot of attention last year in South Carolina. In August, undercover recordings made at an out-of-state Planned Parenthood outraged activists across the country. Haley, in what was seen as a political move, called on the state to inspect South Carolina’s three clinics. By September, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, nudged by Haley, sent inspectors to clinics in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville.
By mid-September, Haley got the results privately. Two days later, the agency announced enforcement “actions” of what were generally seen as technical compliance issues, such as incomplete staff records and disposal problems. None of the violations put women or their health at risk, officials emphasized at the time.
While operations at the Charleston clinic were not suspended, facilities in Columbia and Greenville were. By the end of September, both had paid fines, were in compliance and were open.
Democrats accused pro-life Republicans of being irresponsible and spreading fear. By December, an investigation by a bipartisan House committee found no evidence of misuse of taxpayer money at the Columbia clinic.
“Thousands and thousands of dollars were spent to prove that Planned Parenthood provides safe, needed and quality health care to poor and working-class women in South Carolina,” said Rep. James Smith (D-Columbia), who was critical of politicized efforts to shut down the clinics.
“We’re part of a national political attack on women’s constitutional rights to health care,” he said.
Smith, who argued against Haley signing the new abortion ban, said he expected a lawsuit to be filed over the constitutionality of the ban.
“In every place it has been challenged, it has been overturned and it will be overturned here,” he said. “It’s a big waste of money, energy and effort to take away a constitutional right afforded to the women in our state.”
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