Strict abortion bans fail in Nebraska and South Carolina in Republican-majority legislatures
An effort to advance a bill that would ban abortion around the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster in the Nebraska Legislature on Thursday. And in South Carolina, senators rejected a bill that would have banned nearly all abortions in a conservative state that has increasingly served patients across a region where Republican officials have otherwise curtailed access.
A 22-21 vote Thursday in South Carolina marks the third time a near-total abortion ban has failed in the Republican-led chamber since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last summer. Six Republicans helped block motions to end debate and defeated any chance the bill passes this year. The chamber's five women filibustered the proposal in speeches highlighting the Senate's male majority that they criticized for pushing debates on abortion over other pressing issues.
The South Carolina bill would have banned abortion at conception, with exceptions for rape or incest through the first trimester, fatal fetal anomalies confirmed by two physicians, and to save the patient's life or health. Abortion remains legal through 22 weeks in South Carolina — a status that has drawn patients throughout the increasingly restrictive Southeast.
South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday urged lawmakers to pass a bill that "the vast majority of our state" finds acceptable. He later clarified that he thinks most people supported a 2021 law banning abortion when cardiac activity is detected — which the state's highest court ruled unconstitutional, and which resembles the Senate version.
In Nebraska Thursday, a vote to end debate so the bill could advance to a final round of debate failed 32-15. The motion needed 33 votes.
The failure to advance the Nebraska bill means it's unlikely to move forward this year, despite Republican Gov. Jim Pillen making a public call for just that. The Legislature adjourned immediately after the failed vote and won't reconvene until Tuesday. It was the second straight year that an effort to restrict abortion access in the state failed. Nebraska currently bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, a law that has been in place since 2010. The bill would have banned abortion once cardiac activity can be detected.
Cheers erupted outside the doors of Nebraska's legislative chamber when the last vote was cast, as opponents of the bill waved signs and chanted, "Whose house? Our house!" Among them was Pat Neal, 72, of Lincoln, who has been fighting for abortion rights since she received an abortion in 1973, the year the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide.
"I was 11 weeks pregnant and in the middle of a divorce," Neal said, noting she was fearful of her husband, a Vietnam combat veteran who was "carrying some demons."
The Nebraska bill failed to get the crucial 33rd vote when Sen. Merv Riepe abstained. He was a cosigner of the bill, but expressed concern earlier this year that a six-week ban might not give women enough time to even know they were pregnant.
The failed Nebraska bill included exceptions for cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother and made specific exceptions for ectopic pregnancies and IVF procedures. It also allowed for the removal of a fetus that has died in the womb. It did not ascribe criminal penalties to either women who receive or doctors who perform abortions. Instead, it would have subjected doctors who perform abortions in violation of the measure to professional discipline, which could include losing their medical licenses.
Nebraska has the only single-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature in the United States. But each of its 49 lawmakers identifies as Republican or Democrat and tends to propose and vote for legislation along party lines. Republicans hold 32 seats, while Democrats hold 17 seats. Although bills can advance with a simple majority, it takes a supermajority — 33 votes — to end debate to overcome a filibuster. So a single lawmaker breaking from the party line could decide whether a bill advances or dies for the year.
Last week, the Supreme Court granted a request from the Justice Department to leave in place the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a widely used abortion pill, preserving access to the drug and reinstating a number of steps by the agency that made it easier to obtain while legal proceedings continue.
The decision from the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, came in the most significant case involving abortion since it overturned Roe v. Wade less than one year ago, a ruling that threw the legal landscape into chaos and led to near-total bans on abortion in more than 12 states. In addition to granting the Justice Department's request for emergency relief, the Supreme Court also approved a similar request from Danco Laboratories, the maker of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Abortion is a hot-button topic amid the growing GOP presidential field. Former Vice President Mike Pence says he wants mifepristone "off the market." Former President Donald Trump's campaign, however, says the Supreme Court "got it right" by sending the issue back to the states.