Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 governor Henry McMaster signed a bill banning nearly all abortions in South Carolina.
The bill will not punish a pregnant women for getting an illegal abortion, but the person performing the abortion. This person could be charged with a felony, sentenced up to two years and fined $10,000 if found guilty. 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.
Less than an hour after the bill was signed, the National Reproductive Health Services Organization sued the state of South Carolina. This resulted in judge Mary Geiger Lewis putting a 14-day temporary restraining order on the law and will decide to renew it after the hearing in March.
The temporary restraining order was needed in part because more than 75 women are scheduled to have abortions in 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.
