S.C. Senate Panel OKs End of Abortion Coverage for Rape, Incest Victims
The SC senate tells their constituents what fundamentalists want them to: you must carry your rapist’s or incest created baby to term.
The South Carolina state insurance plan — which covers state employees, and teachers and local government workers who opt to join — would not pay for abortions in cases of rape or incest if a state Senate panel has its way.
The proposed change, if it becomes law, would mean the state would only pay for abortions if the life of the mother is in danger. It is a departure from the federal Hyde Amendment, which for 30 years has set the standard for limiting government funding of abortions to cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
Three Republican state senators - David Thomas and Mike Fair, both of Greenville, and Kevin Bryant of Anderson - voted for the change. Two Democrats - Brad Hutto of Orangeburg and Floyd Nicholson of Greenwood - voted against it.
The proposal, approved by a Senate subcommittee Wednesday, still faces a long process to become law. It must pass a Senate committee today, then pass the full Senate and the S.C. House. Then, it would need the signature of Gov. Nikki Haley. However, the Senate, House and governor’s office are controlled by Republicans, who, as a party, oppose abortion.
“We have a child, we have a human being in the mother’s womb. And that human being has rights,” Bryant said after the meeting. “If you want to execute somebody, let’s execute the rapist. I’ve tried doing that and will continue to.”
The exclusion for rape and incest also would apply to private insurance plans offered in South Carolina as part of President Barack Obama’s controversial health-care reform law. Those health plans, called state health exchanges, don’t exist yet, and they might not ever exist, depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules this summer.