COLUMBIA (AP/AFP/RTR) – The Supreme Court of the US state of South Carolina has immediately rejected an abortion ban that has been in effect since February 2021. Abortions were banned after six weeks of pregnancy but are now allowed again in the conservative southern state until a fetus is 22 weeks. The abortion organization that brought the case speaks of a “monumental victory”.
It is the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide abortion rights last June that a U.S. state Supreme Court has overturned an abortion ban like the one in South Carolina. The New York Times writes about a victory for abortion rights in the southern part of the country, where options for such an intervention are dwindling.
The South Carolina Court ruled on Thursday that a woman can also make the decision to terminate a pregnancy because of her constitutional right to privacy. The Roe vs Wade ruling, which dates back to 1973 and until last year established the right to abortion in the entire US, was also based on the right to privacy.
Planned Parenthood
Since June last year, individual states have regained control over their abortion laws. Planned Parenthood, the American women’s health organization, welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court in South Carolina. This allows women from the nearby states of Alabama and Tennessee, where abortion is also banned, to travel to South Carolina for an abortion.
When the abortion ban was introduced nearly two years ago, Republican Governor Henry McMaster said there were “a lot of happy hearts right now beating in South Carolina.” It is possible that the lingering legal case will continue. By limiting the right to privacy, the right to abortion may also change again, according to the Supreme Court.