Earlier Tuesday, Republicans tried to pass an abortion ban, including rape or incest. The measure failed by eight votes, underscoring a growing political divide among Republicans over how far to push for legislative abortion restrictions that are still widely unpopular with voters.
That tension was evident on Tuesday, as Republican leaders sometimes struggled to keep their lawmakers on the same page. Earlier in the day, members of the House of Representatives, led by the most conservative members of the Republican Party, rejected exceptions for rape and incest.
Frustrated Republican Rep. Nathan Ballentine took to the podium Tuesday to persuade colleagues to support an abortion ban, even if it includes exceptions. He noted that their rejection of the mitigation measures is being influenced by Democrats, who are also strategically rejecting exceptions to the ban.
“We’re playing chess now, and some people are playing checkers, and some people aren’t even playing yet,” Ballentine said. “If we go all out on this bill, or do nothing, we’ll end up with nothing.”
Ballentine warned that if the House sends a tough bill to the Senate without exception, “it’s not coming back.”
As the House prepares to vote on a near-total abortion ban, which includes only one exception, Republicans unexpectedly announced an hour-long recess for the sake of mothers’ lives. Democrats denounced the move as an unprecedented delay meant to twist the arms of holdouts.
“All I can say is, I’m happy to be a part of the caucus where your arms aren’t twisted to do things that go against your core,” Democratic Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter said. Gilda Cobb-Hunter) said he was the longest-serving Democrat. Member of the House of Representatives.
When Republicans re-vote, they can’t pass the most extreme bills. So lawmakers used the parliamentary process to re-vote after adding rape and incest exceptions.
Going into Tuesday’s debate, the Republican-sponsored bill was already fragile. Democrats’ opposition to the bill was too extreme, while a group of 20 conservative Republicans said they wanted a tougher version of the legislation.
Rep. Republican Josiah Magnuson proposes an amendment that would impose up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine on South Carolinians who have abortions; amendment fails, 91-9. Republican Rep. Jonathon Hill introduced an equally unpopular amendment to define abortion as murder, making all abortions the applicable murder penalty.
Several amendments that sought to weaken the bill’s impact also failed, including a proposed amendment that would allow 20-week abortions for minors conceived through rape or incest.
“I just don’t know what you think about your neighbors, your daughters, and then you tell them, ‘If you’re 9, you’re 11, and you’re raped, you don’t have a choice to take care of this,'” the Republican Rep. said. Micah Caskey urged members of the House of Representatives to pass the amendment.
When Republican Gil Gatch fought for a similar exception for minors, his fellow Rep. Doug Gilliam, also a Republican, slammed Gage’s claim that incest child victims were “forced” to become pregnant.
“She has options,” Gilliam said, for example, arguing that child victims could take a Plan B instead of continuing the pregnancy and then terminating it.
“If her dad raped her…who drove her to the pill?” Gage asked.
“Ambulance,” Gilliam replied.
The tensions highlighted by Tuesday’s vote were foreshadowed two weeks ago, when Republican Rep. Neal Collins lamented support for the state’s 2021 six-week abortion ban, which took effect earlier this year when a state court temporarily blocked the law.
At one point, Republican leaders criticized their Democratic counterparts for voting with conservative Republicans to block an amendment that would create an exception, an obvious tactic to advance a highly divisive and restrictive version of the bill.
Democratic Rep. Leon Stavrinakis rejected the attack, picking up the microphone and telling Republican members, “This is not our bill.”
“We didn’t pass this bill outside of committee,” Stavrinakis said. “We are not those who are trying to deny South Carolina women their rights and freedoms, equality and health care choice.”
He added, “If you don’t like it, tidy up your own house.”
Rep. @leonstav Before the abortion bill voted, “This is not our bill. We didn’t pass this bill out of committee. We’re not people trying to deny Southern women their rights, liberty, equality, and health care choices,” Carolina. Not us. Don’t blame me. us.” pic.twitter.com/iA0lkOHlOf
— Gavin Jackson (@GavinJackson) August 30, 2022
House Democrats also believe lawmakers should raise the issue of abortion bans with voters through ballot initiatives. Kansas voters rejected an amendment earlier this month that would strip the right to abortion from the state constitution.
Long-serving Democrat Cob Hunter challenged her Republican counterparts to let voters decide what level of abortion access or restrictions they want.
“What are you all afraid of?” she said at a news conference on Tuesday. “If you’re really speaking for South Carolinians, why not let them vote?”