South Carolina GOP House Leaders Shoot Down Stronger Pro-Life Bill

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Size matters in South Carolina politics. Big crowds draw big attention – as evidenced by the massive turnout earlier this week at the S.C. State House on the issue of lawsuit reform.

But while Palmetto State “Republicans” are highly likely to pass some sort of bill addressing South Carolina’s notoriously anti-competitive tort climate in 2025, one issue they clearly won’t be taking up anytime soon is the erstwhile hot-button issue of abortion. This, despite the fact that a similarly expansive crowd turned out at the S.C. House office building this week to press for more aggressive pro-life legislation.

Buoyed by the resurgent S.C. Family Caucus, several hundred pro-life advocates descended on a judiciary subcommittee chaired by state representative Jay Jordan on Tuesday morning (March 4, 2025) – pushing the ostensibly conservative GOP “supermajority” to strengthen the state’s existing abortion ban.

Their preferred bill – H. 3457, a.k.a. the “Human Life Protection Act” – would ban all abortions in South Carolina. The proposed legislation contains no exceptions for rape, incest or fetal anomalies. Abortions would only be legal in the event of “a medical emergency” or “to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.”

***

Current state law bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy – and includes rape, incest and fetal anomaly exemptions. The proposed bill – sponsored by speaker Murrell Smith, majority leader Davey Hiott and thirty-six GOP lawmakers – would extend that prohibition to the moment there is a “clinically diagnosable pregnancy” and, as noted, rescind the exemptions.

Despite a throng of pro-life supporters packing a hearing room, an overflow room and wrapping around the House office building on Tuesday morning, Jordan made it clear he had no intention of advancing their bill.

The supposed social conservative from Florence, S.C. declined to hold a vote on H. 3457 – and shortly thereafter Hiott issue a statement on behalf of the “Republican” supermajority making it abundantly clear the bill (his bill) wasn’t going anywhere.

“I have encouraged members of the S.C. House Republican Caucus to recognize the hearts and minds of the lives we have already saved and focus additional legislative efforts on supporting mothers and making adoption easier and less expensive,” Hiott said.

***

SC House Republican Caucus Majority Leader Davey Hiott issued the following statement on the Human Life Protection Act pic.twitter.com/mu3LSkJ0OP

— SC House GOP Caucus (@SCHouseGOP) March 4, 2025

***

While the GOP leader insisted his “pro-life view is unwavering,” he claimed lawmakers needed to wait “for any guidance that may be forthcoming from the supreme court.”

Wait… hasn’t the state court already decisively adjudicated this matter?

Yes, it has. State law governing abortions was settled in August 2023 after the high court upheld the six-week ban passed by the legislature earlier that year. There have been subsequent challenges to the definition of “fetal heartbeat,” but Hiott’s reliance on some groundbreaking revelation from those proceedings seems like a stretch.

After all, what is a heartbeat if not… a heartbeat.

Authentic pro-life advocates were enraged by the supermajority leader’s retreat – and the subcommittee’s refusal to hold a vote on the bill.

“Republicans who don’t stand for life – imagine that,” one social conservative activist told us. “It used to be a litmus test.”

Indeed it was… although that was before GOP politicians who talked incessantly about how pro-life they were could actually do something about it. The authority of states to regulate abortion was firmly established in the aftermath of the U.S. supreme court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which had preserved a national right to abortion for half a century.

Last fall, president Donald Trump distanced himself from the GOP’s traditional pro-life position during the 2024 election – banking on the fact that a more moderate stance on the issue would gain him more political ground than it would cost him. He was correct. In South Carolina, though, the political calculus has moved in the other direction as three former GOP state senators – Penry Gustafson, Sandy Senn and Katrina Shealy – were defeated in last spring’s primary elections in large part thanks to their failure to toe the social conservative line on this issue.

Will Jordan, Hiott and other House members be held to account? Stay tuned…

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.