A South Carolina bill that would have become one of the nation’s most extreme abortion bans has failed to advance in the state Senate. The bill’s collapse highlights deep divisions among Republicans over how far they are willing to go in restricting reproductive rights.
The bill, S.323, also known as the “Unborn Child Protection Act,” sponsored by Republican Sen. Richard Cash, sought to outlaw nearly all abortions in the state. It would have eliminated existing exceptions for rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomalies, leaving only a narrow exception to save the life of the pregnant person. Beyond banning the procedure, the proposal also carried extraordinary criminal penalties. Women who obtained abortions, and anyone who assisted them, could face up to 30 years in prison. The bill also included language that could restrict access to certain forms of contraception, including IUDs, and potentially impact in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The bill also sought to criminalize a wide range of conduct surrounding abortion, including providing information, facilitating travel, or helping someone obtain medication, actions that reproductive rights advocates warned could amount to policing speech and movement. Its broad language could have opened the door to investigations into miscarriages and complicated medical care, further intensifying concerns among physicians already navigating a restrictive legal environment.
The bill failed to advance out of the SC Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee, which Cash is on. Four of the six Republican members abstained from voting, allowing the three Democrats present to block the measure. The abstentions signaled serious concerns within the GOP about both the political risk and the ethical implications of criminalizing women.
Several Republicans, including Jeff Zell, made clear that while they oppose abortion and “want to stop as many abortions as possible,” they could not support this legislation that would send women to prison for decades. Their hesitation was echoed by South Carolina Citizens for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion organization, which publicly broke with the bill’s supporters. The group argued that women seeking abortions should not be treated as criminals, calling them victims themselves.
South Carolina already enforces a six-week abortion ban, one of the strictest in the country, with exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal diagnoses, and medical emergencies. But this proposal represented a significantly broader effort that far surpassed post-Roe restrictions adopted elsewhere. If enacted, it would have been the most punitive abortion law in the United States.
For now, the bill remains stalled, though lawmakers acknowledge the issue is far from settled. Democratic Sen. Brad Hutto noted that abortion legislation is all but certain to return during the 2026 session, as Republican lawmakers continue to grapple with internal disagreements and pressure from advocacy groups on both sides.
The debate in South Carolina highlights a broader national struggle within the anti-abortion movement whether to pursue increasingly aggressive criminal penalties, or to stop short of measures many voters, even conservative ones, consider extreme. As the legislative session winds down, the state remains a key battleground in defining the future of reproductive rights in the post-Roe era.