Holly Gatling of South Carolina Citizens for Life says she, her group, and pro-lifers across the state are disappointed the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a ban on abortions after a baby's heartbeat has been detected. But they remain hopeful that elected officials will keep up the fight in the legislature.
"They are going to work together with our General Assembly, which is very pro-life, to see what all the available options are moving forward," Gatling tells AFN.
"The thing about the pro-life movement is we never give up," she continues. "We do not give up when we're celebrating great victories – and we don't give up when we're having to deal with serious disappointments, which this certainly is."
The state Democratic Party chairman described the ruling as "a voice of reason and sanity," but the Republican House speaker accused the state justices of following the path of the justices in the original 1973 Roe decision "by creating a constitutional right to an abortion where none exists."
The decision by the South Caroline Supreme Court comes nearly two years after Governor Henry McMaster (R-South Carolina) signed the bill into law. The ban did include exceptions for rape and incest as well as pregnancies that endangered the patient's life.
Currently, South Carolina bars most abortions at 20 weeks.
