COLOMBIA, SC – A near-total ban on abortion was defeated in South Carolina with the help of the only three Republican women in the Senate, but after Tuesday’s primaries, they are losing their electoral bids.
Voters handed it to senators – and John F. Kennedy winners Profile in Courage Award for people risking their careers for the greater good – two defeats and a runoff after they joined Democratic women to defeat the measure, saying a pregnant woman should not lose control of your body once an egg is fertilized.
But the state There were only men in the Senate in 2012 and could end up without a single Republican woman in the House by 2025. There are only two democrat women among the 46 members.
“You can’t tell me this isn’t a slap in the face to women,” said Senator Katrina Shealy, who is preparing for a runoff. “Republican women lose like this because of one issue, when we fight so hard for other things.”
Voters on Tuesday bucked a trend of having doubts about a more restrictive abortion law.
State polls have indicated that a near-total ban does not have broad support. But turnout was low and the contests were in Republican-leaning districts where experts say voters tend to be more passionate about issues like abortion.
Republican women forced a compromise and the state ended up implementing a ban as soon as cardiac activity is detected, typically about six weeks after conception.
“It’s easier to fight mini-battles than to fight an entire statewide war,” said Dave Wilson, a conservative political consultant who has worked with groups that oppose abortion. “In mini-battles, voters can turn around and say they are not satisfied with the stance you took and the way you acted. You don’t need many of them.
Abortion wasn’t the only reason Penry Gustafson lost, said his only opponent, Allen Blackman, who believes life begins at conception. Gustafson got less than 20% of the vote in a recently redrawn district that no longer included her base and where voters complained that she didn’t solve their problems.
Sen. Sandy Senn’s defeat by just 31 votes to state Rep. Matt Leber is close enough for a recount, but that rarely changes a race by more than a few votes in South Carolina. The race has been fraught with finger-pointing. She posted posters with photos of Leber, which he said were from inflated charges that never led to convictions.
Leber’s attacks misinterpreted Senn’s background and manipulated photos to make her look like the DC Comics villain The Joker.
Redistricting may also have hurt Senn; his redrawn Charleston district includes more conservatives.
Gustafson thanked his supporters in a statement Wednesday, promising to continue serving the community. Senn will not speak about the race until the recount is complete later this week, she said in an email. Neither woman mentioned abortion.
Leber did not respond to messages.
Shealy was the only Republican woman to survive the night, but she won just 40% of the vote. She will face lawyer and political newcomer Carlisle Kennedy in the June 25 runoff.
Posters saying Shealy was not “pro-life” were plastered throughout his Lexington County district, which led to the push to flip the state from Democratic to Republican control over the past five decades. Kennedy did not respond to messages Wednesday.
Shealy’s strategy for the primary was to stay above the fray. She will likely change tactics for the runoff, even if it turns off people uncomfortable when a woman raises her voice or takes a stand, she said Wednesday.
The South Carolina Senate had been all-male for four years when Shealy was first elected in 2012 and had rarely had more than one woman in the chamber. If she loses, there’s a good chance the Senate in 2025 will have just two women, both Democrats.
That means the perspective of women, who make up 55% of registered voters in South Carolina, could be lost and issues she advocates for, like free lunch for all school-aged children, could be ignored, she said.
“I broke that ceiling not for abortion rights — I broke it because we needed someone who cared about children, families, veterans and seniors,” Shealy said. “Nobody took care of all these people. I went in there and gave them a voice.”
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