COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina legislators charged with negotiating future restrictions to abortion have yet to agree on a compromise bill that could actually pass the Legislature before the legislative session officially ends next week.
On Tuesday, a group of six legislators failed to reach a consensus on H. 5399 after the only two actual proposals submitted included bans on abortion at conception, a limit the Senate’s Republican leader said multiple times would not have enough votes to pass the upper chamber, though one Republican said he’s holding out hope.
The three House members and three senators — which includes one Democrat from each chamber, who are also the only two women on the committee — agreed to return to Columbia next Wednesday, the morning after Election Day, to see whether the near-impossible task of passing a restrictive abortion ban a few days before the legislative session ends, Nov. 13, can even happen.
