For the second time in two months, Republicans in the state legislature have blocked legislation that would treat abortion as homicide and ban the procedure from conception, without exceptions for rape, incest or fetal anomalies.

But in keeping with past sessions that used the cultural issue as a wedge, they also introduced a relatively new facet of the debate with a bill to further regulate abortion drugs.

As members of a S.C. House Judiciary subcommittee effectively killed the proposal to treat abortion as homicide on Jan. 14, the GOP majority also voted to move forward with a bill that would place strict new access restrictions on the “medication abortion” pills used in 84% of S.C. abortions according to state statistics.

A spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster on Jan. 15 confirmed that the governor continues to believe the state is in “a good place” with its current ban on abortion after six weeks, while noting that McMaster hasn’t yet commented on the bill restricting medication abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.

Doctors raise concerns

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wes Newton, R-Beaufort, sponsored the legislation restricting access to two abortion medications. It would reclassify both as Schedule IV drugs, making possession illegal without a prescription. Current S.C. law defines Schedule IV drugs as those with a legitimate medical use, but that “may cause physical or psychological dependence,” such as Ativan or Xanax.

Supporters argue the bill will help state officials enforce the six-week ban, which they say some other states are working to undermine by shielding doctors and pharmacies that send the drugs through the mail.

But critics, including doctors like Columbia-area OB-GYN Patricia Seal, warned committee members that both medications are life-saving drugs in emergency rooms and doctors’ offices when pregnancies go wrong — and that rescheduling them would limit doctors’ quick access when women’s lives are at stake.

For instance, Seal said, she would normally have immediate access to misoprostol when needed to treat heavy bleeding after a delivery, but that under the bill, she would have to wait 10 to 15 minutes to have it delivered to the operating room as a Schedule IV controlled substance.

“During that time,” she noted, “the patient would be continuing to bleed.”

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic’s Vicki Ringer echoed those concerns in a Jan. 15 interview, pointing to a New Orleans Health Department study which found that a similar 2024 law in Louisiana made “misoprostol and mifepristone difficult to access for routine, legal and medically necessary use.”

“This bill slows down doctors’ ability to provide care,” Ringer said.

A stricter ban?

Despite the governor’s opposition, some pro-life Republican lawmakers told Statehouse Report this week that they will continue to push for a complete ban on abortion from conception, reflecting their view that the fetus is an unborn human life.

“Life begins at conception,” said Rep. Jordan Pace, chairman of the hard-right S.C. Freedom Caucus, in an interview. “And from a constitutional perspective, the 14th amendment should apply to everyone, regardless of their age or location — in the womb, out of the womb, wherever.”

In contrast, the ACLU of South Carolina’s Courtney Thomas argued that in her view, the moves to ban all abortions arise primarily from religious convictions about when life begins.

“A lot of the fervor for these bans is coming from the Christian right,” she said in a Jan. 16 interview. “We’re seeing the intrusion of the church into what should be decisions based on good science and policy.”

While that debate is likely to continue in committee rooms throughout the session, most Statehouse observers say a stricter ban is unlikely to reach the floor of either chamber this year.

What’s more, at least one influential GOP senator says he’s prepared to use the filibuster if necessary to stop any bill to shorten the current six-week ban.

“My opinion is we’ve already gone too far,” Beaufort Sen. Tom Davis said in an interview. “I’m of the opinion it should be first trimester, with exceptions for rape, incest, fetal anomalies and the health and life of the mother.”

He added, “I am diametrically opposed to anything that would make it more stringent. I would do whatever I could do procedurally to prevent it from passing.” 

The bill rescheduling mifepristone and misoprostol will next go to the full House Judiciary Committee, where it’s expected to pass before heading to the House floor.

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