Seven Republican men are determined to dismantle all reproductive rights in South Carolina

Imagine living in a state where lawmakers are proposing to force pregnant people to bear the infants of their rapists. That’s the current hope of Republican lawmakers in South Carolina, who are currently debating a total ban on abortion care that does precisely that. It’s not enough to control their constituents’ bodies; now they’re attempting to control the outcomes of their lives as survivors of horrific and criminal assault.

Tuesday, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted 9-8 in favor of a near-total abortion ban. The Republican men on the committee voted 7-3 to remove all exceptions—even in cases of rape or incest. The Democrats refused to vote on the extreme amendment in the hopes of killing it. The bill will be debated by the 30 Republicans and 16 Democrats in the state Senate and voted on Wednesday.

State Democratic Sen. Marlon Kimpson said, “This is a bad bill,” when explaining why he withheld his vote. “You can’t put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. Exceptions do not make abortion restrictions less harmful. We, as lawmakers, should not be in a position to decide who gets an abortion and who does not get an abortion.”

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