On the 7th May The New York Times (NYT) reported that there are only five female South Carolina senators fighting the ‘defensive war’ that transcends political factions to protect abortion rights.
The main characters are Republican Senators Sandy Senn, Katrina Shealy, and Penry Gustafson, and Democrats Margie Bright Matthews and Independent Congresswoman Mia McLeod.
Calling themselves the “Senatorial Sisters,” they banded together to block passage of a law banning abortion from early pregnancy by state legislatures.
Currently the state of South Carolina legalizes abortion rights up to 22 weeks of gestation. However, since last year the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ‘Roe v Wade’ ruling that allowed abortion up to about 24 weeks of gestation, until recently, three times have tried to pass legislation banning abortion completely regardless of gestational age.
Republican lawmakers also received a ‘gift’ of a plastic model of a fetal bone from an anti-abortion group before a congressional debate last month.
These lawmakers climbed the Senate Capitol podium with models and made a filibuster to block the passage of the bill. Eventually, after three days of debate, the bill was again defeated.
All of them support women’s right to have an abortion, but they differ somewhat in details.
Democratic Representative Matthews and independent Representative McLeod argue that abortions should be allowed up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy, as in the ‘Roe v. Wade’ ruling.
Republicans Gustafson and Sen are in the position that abortion should be allowed only for the first three months of pregnancy (about 13 weeks), except in exceptional cases.
“The decision to have an abortion should be made by a woman and her doctor and her husband or partner,” Senator Shiley told the New York Times. He said,” showing a more forward-looking stance than the other two colleagues.
These Republicans claim that they are not ‘pro-abortion’, but ‘respect for life’. “I think if you’re pro-life, you’re completely against abortion,” Gustafson told the NYT, “But there are many different measures of pro-life.”
There are also voters who support the activities of these ‘sisters’.
“One of them said, ‘This old woman is proud of you,'” Sen said.
Women who work in state legislative offices also gave them a thumbs-up. One woman said she stopped Congresswoman McLeod from getting out of her car the last three days and said, “Thank you for what you’ve done,” she says.