Major abortion law changes unlikely in S. Carolina after Roe

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Whether conservative South Carolina changes its abortion laws at all in the wake of this year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision may be decided by divided conservatives Tuesday in the state House.

South Carolina for decades was at the forefront of passing more restrictive abortion laws that challenged Roe v. Wade. before the landmark case was overturned this summer.

But the state that helped lead the nation through requiring ultrasounds, parental consent and 24-hour waiting periods before abortions is at an impasse during a special session. The Senate could only muster enough votes to tweak South Carolina’s current six-week ban — which isn’t even in effect at the moment because of a state Supreme Court challenge.

The state House can accept that version and send it to the governor’s desk, where it will likely be signed into law.

If they reject the Senate’s version that would allow a group of three lawmakers from each chamber to work on a compromise between the Senate bill and the House version, which banned almost all abortions with exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest or that threaten the life of the mother up to 12 weeks after conception.

But Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey isn’t sure there is any room to negotiate.

The Republican said senators showed earlier this month there aren’t enough votes in the 46-member chamber for a ban earlier than six weeks. The Senate’s three women joined two other Republicans against a nearly total abortion ban, leaving the chamber short of votes needed to end a potential filibuster.

The bill before the House keeps the ban on abortion after an ultrasound determines cardiac activity is present in a fetus, which is usually around six weeks. It cuts the time that victims of rape and incest who become pregnant can seek an abortion from 20 weeks to about 12 weeks and requires DNA from the aborted fetus in those situations be collected for police.

For lawmakers and groups that have spent decades trying to end all abortions, it is a frustrating end to what looked so promising after leaders in the Republican-dominated General Assembly quickly called for a special session once the draft opinion leaked that the U.S. Supreme Court was ready to let states to decide the abortion issue themselves.

“I cannot concur with a bill that does nothing. We were not called back to pass a bill we already have — we were called to re-write…