Effort to further restrict abortion fails in South Carolina

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — After a dozen meetings and sessions over the summer and fall, South Carolina efforts to pass a stricter abortion law have failed. Senators Wednesday rejected a House-backed proposal and House members didn’t return for another meeting to try and work out a compromise. The bill failed in a small conference room after senators rejected the House-backed compromise again. House members did not come back after that 21-23 Senate vote to negotiate with the bill’s main sponsor. South Carolina has an abortion ban after cardiac activity can be detected about six weeks after conception. But the state Supreme Court has suspended the law as it considerers whether it violates the state constitution’s right to privacy, leaving a 20-week ban in place for now.