South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace took to the House floor last week to address legislation that proposes the death penalty for women who get abortions. Instead of heeding her warnings lately that the extreme anti-abortion views are going to cost seats for Republicans, they're getting worse.
State Rep. Rob Harris proposed the bill that Mace talked about. He wants women executed if they have an abortion. But it's not just him. The bill has 21 co-sponsors. These pro-lifers want women to die if they have an abortion. It's hard to get past the irony.
Via Rolling Stone:
The "South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023" would amend the state's code of laws, redefining "person" to include a fertilized egg at the point of conception, affording that zygote "equal protection under the homicide laws of the state" — up to and including the ultimate punishment: death.
The bill was authored by Rep. Rob Harris, a registered nurse and member of the Freedom Caucus; it has attracted 21 co-sponsors to date. (Two former co-sponsors — Rep. Matt Leber and Rep. Kathy Landing — asked to have their names removed as sponsors of the bill. Leber and Landing could not be reached for comment.)
They are monsters.
Asked about exceptions for victims of rape, which Mace raised in her remarks on the floor, Harris told Rolling Stone, "There are other bills with exceptions, but will do little or nothing to save the lives of pre-born children." He went on list exceptions the bill does contain, including: "a 'duress' defense for women who are pressured/threatened to have an abortion" and "medical care to save the mother's life… The functional language in that scenario is whether the baby's life is forfeited 'unintentionally' or 'intentionally'." (Asked if he saw any irony between being a member of the so-called "Freedom Caucus" while proposing such harsh restrictions on reproductive freedoms, Harris responded simply: "Murder of the pre-born is harsh.”)
So, that's a weird way to say there are no exceptions for rape or incest. Mace called the legislation "dark."
"Last week, a member of the state legislature in South Carolina filed a piece of legislation that would execute women who have abortions," Mace said last week. "To see this debate go to the dark places, the dark edges where it has gone on both sides of the aisle have been deeply disturbing as a woman, as a female legislature, as a mom, and as a victim of rape."
