On Thursday, five women in the South Carolina Senate filibustered the abortion proposal under debate with speeches that successfully blocked it.
A 22-21 vote 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.
The women’s impassioned revolt against the proposed legislation is a stark reminder of the gender gap that exists on some of the most important issues in government, abortion being the primary one.
The extreme restrictions that are being placed on abortion across the US are driven mainly by male legislators. The question is, why?
Abortion is an issue that affects women directly, on their own bodies. It is they who get pregnant, give birth and in most cases, take on the roles of nurturer, nurse, chauffeur, teacher, while the father “lends a hand” when he wants. It is the women who face the medical hazards that abortion represents—even when performed legally under the best of circumstances. When abortion becomes illegal, those dangers are multiplied exponentially, but it is only the life of the woman that is at stake.
Male legislators don’t face any of those perils, their objections to abortion are founded on abstractions such as morality or religion. It’s easy for them to make laws that enforce those values while disregarding all the real-life consequences that a woman faces if she is denied the option of the termination of a pregnancy that will irrevocably determine her life conditions—or even worse. Of course, there are a few women lawmakers who are also in favor of abortion, but these are the exceptions.
Equally, there are women whose beliefs make an abortion an abomination for them. They would never have one, but should the rest who don’t share those same values not have the choice available to them?
Thanks to these five women senators, South Carolina rejected that bill that would have banned nearly all abortions.
Republican Sen. Penry Gustafson spent over 30 minutes Wednesday detailing the bodily changes throughout every stage of pregnancy. Gustafson said she spoke so long because the millions of women addressed in the bill had not been heard. She emphasized her “pro-life” position but said the proposal left “no room for empathy, reality or graciousness.”
Republican Sen. Sandy Senn criticized Majority Leader Shane Massey for repeatedly “taking us off a cliff on abortion.”
“The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words,” Senn said.
Independent Sen. Mia McLeod who shared during a previous abortion debate that she had been raped, said it is unfortunate that women must reveal intimate experiences to “enlighten and engage” men.
“Just as rape is about power and control, so is this total ban,” McLeod said Thursday. “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.”
Abortion remains legal through 22 weeks in South Carolina, something that now passes for a liberal policy in the Republican states that are increasingly imposing more and more restrictions. The number of abortions and out-of-state patients has risen since the South Carolina Supreme Court first enjoined and then struck down a 2021 law, according to provisional state health department data that could change.
This is the trend that supporters are using as the pretext to tighten the restrictions. Opponents argue that it would only prevent safe access to the procedure and worsen the state’s already alarmingly high maternal death rates and even poorer outcomes for Black patients.
The vote maintains the legislative stalemate made plain during a special session last year when the House and Senate failed to agree on when South Carolina should ban abortion. The Senate has again passed a different ban taking effect when cardiac activity is detected, as early as six weeks and before many people realize they are pregnant.
Republican Sen. Richard Cash began Wednesday’s debate by expressing disappointment that a majority party that has long waved the “pro-life” banner would not pass a total abortion ban.
Given the glaring gender gap in the abortion debate, it’s fair to ask, if the majority of lawmakers were female instead of male, would bills such as this one be in discussion? Even more crucially, would the right of a woman to get an abortion even be an issue that repeatedly comes under assault?
It is thanks to the perseverance of women senators like Gustafson, Senn and McLeod that abortion is at the center of the national debate and that no doubt will play a significant role in the 2024 election.
