Known as a tireless opponent of abortion, Johnny Gardner with ‘Mission to the Unborn’ is seen resting at the SC Soldiers monument in front of the SC Statehouse. Gardner, who passed away in July 2021, was a mainstay at the statehouse in SC for 30 years fighting to abolish abortion of unborn children. Photo courtesy Seattle Times.
Judges voted 3-2 on Thursday as the State Supreme Court decided to reinstate a law that allows abortion up to 20 weeks in SC. The Court, in an opinion led by Justice Kaye Hearn, followed by Chief Justice Donald Beatty, and Justice John Cannon Few voted 3 to 2 to overturn the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Law. In that ruling the High Court overturned South Carolina’s 2021 “Heartbeat Law” signed by Governor Henry McMaster almost two years ago.
Justice Hearn’s lead opinion stated:
We hold that our state constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s decision to have an abortion. The State unquestionably has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with her decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy. Six weeks is, quite simply, not a reasonable period of time for these two things to occur, and therefore the Act violates our state Constitution’s prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy.
Chief Justice Beatty stated “I believe the Act is also void ab initio and denies state constitutional rights to equal protection, procedural due process, and substantive due process.”
Justice Few concurred with Justice Hearn in questioning whether or not a woman can even determine if she is really pregnant at six weeks “in time to make the necessary arrangements to carry out an abortion?” Justice Few stated that due to the State Legislature’s failure to consider this aspect that it “renders the Fetal Heartbeat Act unconstitutional.”
Justices John Kittredge and George James, Jr. both dissented in the death or life case.
In Justice Kittredge’s dissent, he stated that he interpreted the phrase “unreasonable invasions of privacy” as the constitutional framers intended. In doing so he concluded that “the Act does not violate the South Carolina Constitution.”
Justice James dissented by saying, “Bodily autonomy is an intensely personal issue for South Carolinians and justifiably so. In particular, a woman’s right to have an abortion is a subject of great debate and differing personal opinions. These personal opinions are deserving of consideration and understanding. However, when I put aside any personal preferences and review the issue under South Carolina law, I conclude a citizen’s right to be free from unreasonable invasions of privacy does not extend beyond the context of searches and seizures…”
Newly elected SC House member Jay Kilmartin, R-District 85, stated following the Court ruling that:
[Thursday’s] ruling is further proof we need to reform the legislative process of choosing judges in SC. A system where liberal Republican lawyers get to choose like minded liberal judges reeks of legal corruption. Now is the time to expose this misogyny and demand our legislators change the process.
President of the Columbia based Palmetto Family Council, Dave Wilson, issued a statement saying “The S.C. State Supreme Court has read into a 1970 state constitutional amendment a similar overreach of the right to privacy created by SCOTUS’ 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.” He added “It was not the intention of voters in 1970 to enshrine the right to an abortion into our state’s Constitution.”
The South Carolina Freedom Caucus issued a statement Thursday afternoon concerning the Court striking down the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. The Caucus stated:
Today, the State Supreme Court, enabled by the ruling cabal of radical Democrats and liberal Republicans in Columbia, stripped the people of the Palmetto State of their voice through their elected representatives. Not only did three justices overturn settled law through judicial fiat, they also guaranteed the deaths of hundreds and possibly thousands of more innocent lives.
Today’s ruling may surprise some. But considering judges in South Carolina are elected by the very lawyer-legislators who then argue before them – lawyer-legislators who have failed to fully defend the unborn – this ruling was sadly predictable.
Members of the SC Freedom Caucus have long campaigned for fundamental reform in our judicial system. But South Carolina remains the only state in the Republic to screen judges through a committee of power players and elect them via the legislature – a legislature filled with trial lawyers.
The judicial system in South Carolina is structurally corrupt. It is broken. It cannot be allowed to continue running roughshod over the safety of our most vulnerable citizens and the will of the people.
The Caucus pledged to institute integrity back into the legislature. They said they plan to overhaul the judiciary and remove the control from lawyer legislators, pass strong Pro-Life laws by holding Republican legislators to their pro-life Party pledge and hold their colleagues accountable for breaking their promises to voters.
With this Court ruling, details emerging about Court off duty conduct, the overall agitation in the country over the past two years, the stirred up legislative Caucus and the general populace vocally opposed to abortion, the 2023 legislative session should be lively. We will be revisiting this issue.
Michael Reed is Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online. TheStandardSC video media channel is being censored by dominant social media groups like YouTube. YouTube, owed by Alphabet (Google), removed and destroyed all of our video work without permission or remuneration. That has stopped all potential donations from our many supporters on that venue. If you want to continue to see independent thought and reports please “like”, comment, share with a friend, and donate to support The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.
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