South Carolina Supreme Court reverses course on abortion by upholding 6-week ban

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a state law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy after ruling earlier this year that such a law violated the state's constitution.

The court, composed entirely of men, ruled 4-1 that "the State has a compelling interest in protecting the lives of unborn children," according to the majority opinion written by Justice John Kittredge.

After the judges struck down the state's "Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act" in January, South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed another six-week abortion ban into law in May.

Legislators supporting the new ban were confident it would survive judicial scrutiny, partially due to the retirement of Justice Kaye Hearn, who wrote the majority decision in January.

The court's majority had concluded in January that the original state law violated the "state Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy," which they said extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion, and that "as six weeks is "not a reasonable period of time" for a woman to make such a decision.

In addition to having a new justice to weigh in on the new law, Justice John Few switched his vote on the issue. He said the new law included "reasonable" restrictions on abortion compared to the old one.

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