A South Carolina representative defended a proposal from Republican state lawmakers to ban all abortions except in cases of rape or incest.
State house member Doug Giliam argued this week that a hypothetical 10-year-old girl who was raped by her father could still terminate the pregnancy under the new law, by going to the hospital or taking an ambulance to Walmart to buy the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill.
“She had choices,” Mr Gilliam said on Tuesday. “She could’ve had the doctor help her make that decision. She was at the hospital. The morning after pill was available. That kind of stuff could’ve been done, but don’t say she was forced if she didn’t want to do that.”
Members of his own party were taken aback.
“So if her dad rapes her, and she’s carrying the child, who drives her to the store to get the morning after pill?” asked representative Gil Gatch.
“The ambulance,” Mr Gilliam said.
On Tuesday, GOP house members in the state failed to pass an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, but were able to pass a revised version.
The updated law, which now heads to the state senate, outlaws abortions in all cases, except those that are the result of rape or incest and are reported to doctors within 12 weeks. The proposal requires doctors to tell the pregnant person that the rape will be reported to a county sheriff. The legislation also allows abortions to save the pregnant person’s life.
The state currently bans abortions after 20 weeks, after the state Supreme Court suspended a six-week abortion ban amid a challenge from Planned Parenthood that the law violates privacy rights under the state constitution.
Republicans have found themselves occasionally on the back foot, having to defend the extreme circumstances created by a wave of new abortion restrictions they passed after the demise of Roe v Wade.
In Ohio, strict new abortion laws forced a 10-year-old rape victim to travel to Indiana for an abortion. Conservative leaders and media figures falsely claimed the story was a hoax. In fact, it was the requirements of the state’s abortion ban, which applies to pregnancies carried for more than six weeks, which forced the girl to seek treatment elsewhere.
Texas governor Greg Abbott recent defended his state’s new abortion ban, which contains no exceptions for rape and incest.
“We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it,” Mr Abbott said this week. “By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place. With regard to reporting it to law enforcement, that will ensure that the rapist will be arrested and prosecuted.”
Nearly 80 per cent of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported, according to the Justice Department. Many victims fear going to the authorities or facing further sexual violence from their assailants, who are often friends or family members.
