Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Donate to our newsroom

Menu

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact
Donate
Home

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Abortion

Three GOP-led states are set to vote on new abortion bans today

If passed, the new bans — 12-week prohibitions in North Carolina and Nebraska, and a six-week ban in South Carolina — could further erode access to care.

State Sen. Merv Riepe looks pensive before voting on a bill to ban abortions in Nebraska.
State Sen. Merv Riepe watches before voting on a bill to ban abortions in Nebraska on April 27, 2023. Sen. Riepe, a longtime Republican, would have been the decisive vote to advance an abortion bill to a final round of voting last week but he abstained over his concern that the six-week ban might not give women enough time to know they are pregnant. (Larry Robinson/Lincoln Journal Star/AP)

Shefali Luthra

Reproductive Health Reporter

Published

2023-05-16 10:00
10:00
May 16, 2023
am

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Republish this story

Your trusted source for contextualizing abortion news. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Three states, all with Republican supermajorities, are poised to debate and vote on abortion bans Tuesday, potentially further chipping away access to care across the country and creating an abortion desert across the South.

South Carolina’s Republican-led legislature will convene at noon for a special legislative session. The House of Representatives will debate and likely vote on an abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy. A version of that proposal has already passed the state Senate, though the House’s amended draft will require reapproval from the upper chamber before sending it to the governor’s desk. Gov. Henry McMaster has indicated that he would sign the six-week ban, which would take effect immediately.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

North Carolina House Speaker Phil Berger said that lawmakers will vote Tuesday evening on whether to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a 12-week abortion ban on Saturday. The GOP holds a one-vote supermajority in the state legislature, and will require every Republican lawmaker to support undoing the governor’s veto.

  • More abortion coverage
    State Sens. Megan Hunt, Jen Day and Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh embrace while being cheered on by supporters after a bill seeking to ban abortions in Nebraska after about six weeks failed to advance.
  • Abortion bans are unpopular. Republicans are passing them anyway.
  • North Carolina passes 12-week abortion ban
  • Virginia could be key to abortion access in the South. Its laws could hinge on this Democratic primary.

And in Nebraska, where a proposed six-week abortion ban died after a legislative filibuster, the unicameral legislature is scheduled to consider a bill that would ban gender-affirming surgery for transgender youth and potentially restrict access to hormone therapy. Anti-abortion lawmakers have amended that bill so that it would also ban abortion for anyone past 12 weeks. 

It’s not yet clear if a supermajority of Nebraska Republicans are on board with the bill, or if the same Republican lawmaker who rejected the state’s recent six-week abortion ban — denying the party a filibuster-proof majority — will similarly oppose this one. The state’s amendment process means that if the Nebraska bill is not voted down Tuesday, it will have to be approved one more time on Thursday by state lawmakers. The Nebraska governor has expressed support for restricting abortion in the state. 

Currently, abortion is legal up to 20 weeks in Nebraska and North Carolina, and up to 22 weeks in South Carolina, where the state Supreme Court recently stopped a six-week abortion ban from taking effect. 

Restrictions in the Carolinas could effectively end access to most abortions in the South. In a sea of near-total bans, Georgia only allows abortion up to six weeks. Florida does not allow the procedure past 15 weeks, and recently passed a six-week ban which has not yet taken effect due to a pending court case. 

  • Explore Our Abortion Dashboard:
    Greyed out map with text that reads
  • Explore Our Abortion Dashboard: What abortion looks like in every state — right now

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, North Carolina has seen one of the largest percentage increases in patients seeking abortions in the state. Health care providers in the state say that the state’s 12-week limit — combined with other new restrictions on mailing medication abortion and an in-person visiting requirement — would be nearly impossible for out-of-state patients to meet.

Preliminary data from South Carolina also suggests that people have traveled there for care, seeking abortions from one of the state’s three clinics. The state reported an increase of about 1,000 abortions in 2022 compared with 2021, with close to half of all patients now coming from out of state. No clinic in South Carolina provides abortions past 14 weeks.

Sign up for more news and context delivered to your inbox, daily

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Preview of the daily newsletter from The 19th

A ban in Nebraska would have less of a regional impact but would still be significant. Currently, three abortion clinics operate in the state, and two of them provide abortions for patients up to 17 weeks of pregnancy. Research from the Society for Family Planning suggests that the state has seen a small increase in abortions provided since Roe was overturned, indicating that on average a dozen more people each month are currently seeking abortions in Nebraska. The increase, researchers believe, likely stems from traveling from states that have banned access to the procedure.

If the state’s ban is passed, patients seeking abortion past 12 weeks would have to travel from Nebraska to Kansas or Colorado, where clinics in both states have reported massive increases in patients since last year. Though abortion is legal in Iowa, no clinics in the state provide it past 11 weeks. 

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Recommended for you

Protesters gather outside the state house in opposition to a proposed abortion ban.
South Carolina House passes six-week abortion ban
Hundreds of abortion rights supporters rally to watch Gov. Roy Cooper veto new abortion restrictions.
Republicans in North Carolina override veto of 12-week abortion ban
Woman at a counter checking in for her appointment to get an abortion.
A proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida could threaten access for the entire South
State Sens. Megan Hunt, Jen Day and Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh embrace while being cheered on by supporters after a bill seeking to ban abortions in Nebraska after about six weeks failed to advance.
Abortion bans are unpopular. Republicans are passing them anyway.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

Explore more coverage from The 19th
Abortion Politics Education LGBTQ+ Caregiving
View all topics

Our newsroom's Spring Member Drive is here!

Learn more about membership.

  • Transparency
    • About
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Guidelines
  • Newsroom
    • Latest Stories
    • 19th News Network
    • Podcast
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Fellowships
  • Newsletters
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • The Amendment
    • Event Invites
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Sponsorship
    • Republishing
    • Volunteer

The 19th is a reader-supported nonprofit news organization. Our stories are free to republish with these guidelines.