A South Carolina bill that would allow judges to sentence women who get abortions to decades in prison and could restrict the use of IUDs and in vitro fertilization has stalled after failing to get out a legislative subcommittee Tuesday.
Four of the six Republicans on the subcommittee refused to vote on the bill, which would ban all abortions unless the woman’s life is threatened. The three Democrats were then able to vote against sending the bill forward.
The proposal is not dead, but the effort did reveal a lack of support for the most extreme positions among groups opposing abortions. If the bill had been sent to the full Medical Affairs Committee, it would have gone further than any other such proposal across the U.S. since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In declining to vote on the bill, Republican state Sen. Jeff Zell said he wants to stop as many abortions as possible but that most people aren’t interested in such extreme positions. He said other issues are more important to South Carolina residents.
Strictest US Abortion Bill Stalls in South Carolina
