Senate Minority Leader Hutto’s Statement on Republican Effort to Fast-Track Abortion Ban Bill

South Carolina Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) offered the following statement regarding Senate Republicans calling for another Medical Affairs Committee meeting this week to fast-track S.1, or the Fetal Heartbeat Bill:

“Once again, our Republican colleagues are putting their own political interests over the people of South Carolina. In the middle of a raging pandemic that continues to kill our loved ones and neighbors, the Senate Republicans have decided that their top priority is cramming a highly controversial bill through our committee process. There are a number of urgent, time-sensitive matters that the Legislature should be taking up in these crucial moments, such as confirming a leader for DHEC or tackling our state’s disastrous vaccine distribution— but instead Republicans have chosen to take this as a political opportunity for themselves by jeopardizing the rights of women across our state.

“Senate Republicans are not seeking real results by fast-tracking this legislation, they are seeking political expediency. Passing a bill like S.1, which we know is unconstitutional, will only amount in hefty legal fees for taxpayers and will ultimately be struck down in court like every abortion ban from every state before this one.

“Nearly 400,000 South Carolinians have been infected with COVID-19, and over 6,000 have been killed. If our Republican colleagues think now is the time for political stunts, rather than taking meaningful action to protect our constituents from this pandemic, it is clear that their empathy does not extend past their Party’s talking points.”

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