South Carolina abortion law suspended 1 day after passage
COLUMBIA, S. C .— South Carolina' s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect.
Judge Mary Geiger Lewis put a 14-day temporary restraining order on the law and will renew it until she can hold a more substantial hearing on March 9 on Planned Parent hood' s request that it not been forced until the group's lawsuit against South Carolina is resolved.
Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill into law Thursday less than an hour after it was sent to him, but the national reproductive health services organization sued even before the governor put ink to paper.
The temporary res training order was needed in part because more than 75 women are scheduled to have abortion sin the state over the next three days, and most of them would be banned under the new law, Planned Parenthood and The Center for Reproductive Rights said in court papers.
The “South Carolina Fetal Heart beat and Protection from Abortion Act “is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. All were stopped from taking effect and currently are tied up in court. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion.
Planned Parenthood's lawyers said South Carolina is “openly flouting this law.”
The South Carolina Attorney General's Office said in court papers filed Friday morning that Planned Parent hood can't be sure the law will be rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. With three justices appointed by Republican f or mer President Donald Trump, they said, the court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision supporting abortion rights.
Lewis said that was not for her to determine. She was quoted by news outlets as saying Friday that South Carolina's new law was far more strict than the current U.S. Supreme Court rulings she must abide by.
Abortion opponents
celebrated in the Statehouse lobby outside the House chambers as members gave t he bill final approval on Thursday. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they sang “Praise God” to the tune of “Amazing Grace” after the Republican governor held up the new law so they could see his signature, signed with eight different pens. The GOP tried for years to pass the ban, finally succeeding after the party flipped three Senate seats in 2020.
The law requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for a heartbeat in the fetus, which can typically be detected about six weeks after conception. If one is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or the mother's life is in danger.