An effort to protect the sanctity of life was quashed in South Carolina after Republicans undermined their own majority in support of a narrative that likened the legislation to the dystopian “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“It’s always about control.”
Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, state lawmakers have taken action to exercise their constitutional authority and impose bans on terminating the life of the unborn. In South Carolina, a Republican majority of 30 to 16 was still not enough to institute a full ban on abortions, despite maintaining exceptions for rape, incest and the safety of the mother.
Speaking from the Senate floor Thursday, state Sen. Sandy Senn (R) was one of five female lawmakers, (three Republicans, one Democrat and one independent), to filibuster the bill as she took umbrage with her male colleagues.
“The abortion laws have always been, each and every one of them, about control. It’s always about control, plain and simple. And in the Senate, the males all have control,” she contended.
“We, the women, have not asked for, as the senator from Orangeburg pointed out yesterday, nor do we want your protection. We don’t need it. We don’t need it,” Senn continued and later went on, “There is not a single thing I can do when women such as me are insulted, except to make sure that you get an earful and you need to blame this earful on following that leader blindly off the cliff for the third time on abortion. And I’m sure you get an earful if you’re being honest from your wives, from your children, from your grandchildren. You cannot tell me that you are not. I know you are.”
The motion to end debate on the bill was lost 21 to 22 before the Senate adjourned, but not before others Senn likened banning abortion from conception “to the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, in which women are treated as property of the state,” the Washington Post reported.
Previously, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) had spoken for RINOs on the issue, warning that a strong stance against murdering the unborn would hurt electability.
“We need to find a middle ground on this issue and I have a great pro-life voting record,” she claimed to “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream, “but some of the stances we’ve taken, especially when it comes to rape and incest, protecting the life a mother, it’s so extreme, the middle — the independent voters, right of center, left of center — they cannot support us.”
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace urges Republicans to be more lenient on abortionhttps://t.co/gQ3D8AhCZJ
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) April 18, 2023
“Women are watching. But instead, it seems like and it feels like we’re burying our heads in the sand,” Mace argued. “We’re afraid of the issue because we’re afraid of our base.”
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who had been reelected by a margin of nearly 20 points in a traditionally swing state, had gone ahead and signed the Heartbeat Protection Act into law banning abortions as soon as a heartbeat could be detected.
Despite blocking the near-total ban, a similar bill to Florida’s law had passed the South Carolina Senate already, leaving it up to the state House to determine if it reaches the governor’s desk.
Independent state Sen. Mia McLeod had added to Senn’s rhetoric from the Senate floor with her own extreme accusations, “Just as rape is about power and control, so is this total ban. Those who continue to push legislation like this are raping us again with their indifference, violating us again with their righteous indignation, taunting us again with their insatiable need to play God while they continue to pass laws that are ungodly.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- Illegal immigrant from Russia celebrates NYC exit: ‘They give me ticket for free to Chicago!’ - April 17, 2024
- NPR’s Uri Berliner resigns – blasts CEO who sees 1st Amendment used to defend old posts as ‘a challenge’ - April 17, 2024
- ‘Pretty scary’: Local leaders respond to chaos of San Diego area beaches being rushed by illegal migrants - April 17, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.