COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Supreme Court met Wednesday to discuss a law in Mississippi that would ban abortion after 15 weeks.
This decision could determine if South Carolina’s fetal heartbeat bill will go into effect.
This entire debate stems from the 1973 Roe v. Wade case where the Supreme Court ruled states can’t prohibit abortion until a woman reaches her third trimester in pregnancy. This is when the fetus reaches “viability,” or the ability to survive outside of the womb. The only exception would be if abortion was necessary to save her life.
“I think the most worrisome possibility is that Roe v. Wade will be overturned and that would allow states to all have 50 different laws regarding abortion and women will be punished based on where they live. Which in many cases is beyond their control,” said Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Vicki Ringer.
Earlier this year, South Carolina signed a bill into law that would ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy forcing Planned Parenthood to file a lawsuit.
“If we had not sued, we would have put so many women at an even greater disadvantage than they are now. They would have had to travel out of state. And let’s face it, the people who could do that are mostly wealthy white women and that’s certainly not a fair position for people who will be hurt the most in our state,” said Ringer.
However, pro-life advocates say there’s a larger discussion to be had that goes beyond abortion.
“Pro-life goes beyond birth. It goes through a whole pro-life agenda of how do we create family permanence for children. How do we create safe environments for them? How do we help moms and dads who are going to need to come along and be able to provide for their children,” said President of Palmetto Family Council, Dave Wilson.
Pro-abortion advocates say there are existing challenges with equal access to health care and abortion.
“There are all these hoops that women have to jump through to be able to get an abortion. Six weeks is not nearly enough time and mainly because women don’t even realize they’re pregnant,” said Vicki Ringer, “Already the laws, the restrictions, the barriers that lawmakers have put into place make it most harmful to those who are most vulnerable. Low-income people, young people, LGBTQ people, black women. It is particularly onerous for them because healthcare is so limited in South Carolina already.”
Dave Wilson said, “We do need to have an access to healthcare that is going to be more accessible, more affordable, and there but we also need to have women who are recognizing the fact there are options out there and actually getting to those healthcare options that are available and if they’re not available, we as a society have got to start understanding how are we going to move that forward to so there is greater access for them.”
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Mississippi is expected in June.