By Gabriella Borter
(Reuters) - South Carolina lawmakers held a public hearing on Thursday to consider banning nearly all abortions in the state, following the lead of other Republican-led states that have outlawed most abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
A committee of South Carolina's House of Representatives heard dozens of speakers give testimony on whether the state should restrict abortion further than it does currently.
A ban on abortion past six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, took effect in South Carolina when the Supreme Court last month overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.
Since then, Republican state senators have introduced a bill that would ban all abortions from conception, except to save the life of the mother, and would make performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Some 20 Republican-led states have moved to ban abortion almost entirely since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision allowed them to do so, while Democrat-led states have rushed to protect abortion rights.
A few Republican-led states, like South Carolina and Indiana, are convening special legislative sessions to potentially expedite the passage of stricter laws.
"My request of this body is that you put forth legislation and pass a law totally banning abortions in our state without any exceptions," Mark Baumgartner, the founder of anti-abortion Christian organization A Moment of Hope, told South Carolina lawmakers on Thursday. He added that he felt there should be exceptions for ectopic pregnancies and "cases of fetal demise."
Outside the State House in Columbia, a crowd of abortion rights advocates attended a protest organized by Planned Parenthood. Some held bright pink signs that read "Bans Off our Bodies."
On Wednesday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed an executive order protecting abortion access in that state, which is expecting an uptick in abortion-seekers coming from states with strict bans.
Cooper's executive order prevents North Carolina agencies from complying with other states' efforts to bring criminal or civil suits against abortion providers or patients. It is similar to measures passed in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine seeking to establish themselves as havens of abortion rights.