South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill on Thursday that prohibits abortion in the state after six weeks of pregnancy. O new law allows exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, when the life and health of the mother are at risk. Victims of rape or incest can abort for up to 12 weeks if they filed a police report and obtained certification from two doctors.
South Carolina’s is just the latest in a series of strict abortion restrictions passed by individual states since Roe v. Wade. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court last summer.
Before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization In June 2022, 18 Republican states in the South and West, such as Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi and South Dakota, passed so-called “trigger laws,” which banned abortion at the time the court delivered its verdict.
In recent months, eight other Republican-led states have enacted new laws banning abortions at various stages of pregnancy.
Here’s a guide to the new abortion restrictions states have passed since last summer:
South Carolina
The state had a triggering 2021 law that banned abortion after cardiac activity could be detected in a fetus around six weeks into pregnancy — but the state Supreme Court struck down that law in January, saying it violated privacy rights in the United States. state constitution. This left abortion legal until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion Providers in the State immediately filed a lawsuit against the law in state court, asking the court to place a temporary restraining order preventing implementation of the law. On Friday, a South Carolina judge granted abortion providers’ request to block a recently enacted six-week abortion ban while a legal challenge continues.
Nebraska
In May, Republican lawmakers in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature amended a bill that prohibits gender-affirming surgeries for anyone under the age of 19 and will impose new rules limiting access to hormone therapy and puberty-blocking medications for trans youth also banned abortion after 12 weeks and later passed the measure. It was later signed into law by Nebraska’s Republican governor, Jim Pillen. There are exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. Nebraska previously banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. An effort in April to ban abortions after six weeks failed by one vote.
North Caroline
The state House and Senate overrode the governor’s veto on a party-line vote, with Republicans achieving a three-fifths majority in both chambers after a Democratic state representative switched parties. State law previously banned almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and Cooper spent the past week trying unsuccessfully to persuade at least one Republican to side with him and defend his veto. North Carolina law previously banned almost all abortions after 20 weeks.
North Dakota
North Dakota approved a law on April 24 almost completely banning abortion, with exceptions in the first six weeks of pregnancy for cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies. After six weeks, only certain medical emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancies, would be eligible for legal abortions. In March, a previous abortion ban in North Dakota, which was almost as sweeping, was temporarily suspended by the State Supreme Court while a legal challenge proceeds. There are no more abortion clinics in North Dakota. After Roe v. Wade was annulled, the state’s only abortion clinic moved operations to Moorhead, Minnesota.
Florida
A law signed in April. 14 from Gov. Ron DeSantis would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, except for victims of rape or incest or for women whose health is at risk. Those seeking one of these exceptions would also be required to produce evidence. The new law will only go into effect if the existing 15-week ban is upheld by the state Supreme Court in an ongoing legal challenge. The state’s high court has a conservative majority.
Indiana
The Hoosier State became the first in the country to create new abortion restrictions following the Dobbs ruling. In August 2022, Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican, signed a bill banning abortion, with limited exceptions. Abortions are now permitted in Indiana only in cases of rape and incest in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy in order to protect the life or physical health of the pregnant woman, or if the fetus is diagnosed with a lethal abnormality. Doctors who perform illegal abortions will be deprived of their medical license. Abortions can also now only be performed in hospitals or hospital-owned outpatient centers — abortion clinics can no longer legally operate in the state. The application of the new law, however, was blocked pending the outcome of legal challenges. The Indiana State Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in January.
West Virginia
Last September, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, signed a law banning abortion, except in cases of rape or incest, for up to eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for minors. Allows abortions of non-viable fetuses or embryos and when there is a medical emergency or ectopic pregnancy. Abortion providers not covered by these exceptions face up to 10 years in prison.
Wyoming
In March, Wyoming became the first state to ban abortions performed via oral medication, which are responsible for the majority of abortions nationwide. The state already had a complete abortion ban in place, but is currently prohibited from enforcing it by court order. The same abortion pill is at the center of the federal lawsuits, as a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas recently rejected the FDA’s approval of the drug.
Idaho
Earlier this month, Idaho became the first state to criminalize helping a minor have an abortion in another state, with people convicted of breaking the law facing two to five years in prison. The law allows the state attorney general to prosecute a case if local prosecutors refuse to do so. It also allows family members of a pregnant child or the person who impregnated the child to file lawsuits against medical professionals providing abortion care for up to $20,000 in damages.
