SC State Supreme Court Rules State Constitution Protects Abortion Rights

In a strange coincidence, I drove past the Greenville Women’s Clinic this morning, sending all my good vibes out there that the State Supreme Court justices would rule soon that the state’s constitutional guarantees of privacy would protect women’s right to bodily autonomy.

Then, a few hours later, Erin McAdams and Malissa Burnette both sent me the news that today the State Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that the six-week abortion ban passed in 2021 was unconstitutional, which means that women can now access abortion care up to 22 weeks.

Justice Kaye Hearn, the only woman on the Court, wrote the decision, ruling: “Today we consider whether The Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act ("the Act") violates a woman's constitutional right to privacy, as guaranteed in article I, section 10 of the South Carolina Constitution. We hold that the decision to terminate a pregnancy rests upon the utmost personal and private considerations imaginable, and implicates a woman's right to privacy. While this right is not absolute, and must be balanced against the State's interest in protecting unborn life, this Act, which severely limits—and in many instances completely forecloses—abortion, is an unreasonable restriction upon a woman's right to privacy and is therefore unconstitutional.”

I’m stunned, and so grateful for the women fighting against these laws, especially Malissa and her team, and for Planned Parenthood and the Greenville Women’s Clinic. As I drove by this morning, there were the usual anti-abortion protesters but also signs encouraging drivers to honk for choice, which, of course I did. Thank you to those fighting to keep choice in this state.

(For more abortion news, I recommend following Jessica Valenti’s Substack Abortion, Every Day).