GOP women who helped defeat a near-total abortion ban are losing reelection in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A near-total abortion ban was defeated in South Carolina with the help of the only three Republican women in the Senate, but after Tuesday’s primary, they’re losing their election bids.

Voters handed the senators – and winners of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for people who risk their careers for the greater good – two losses and a runoff after they joined with Democratic women to defeat the measure, saying a pregnant woman shouldn’t lose control of her body as soon as an egg is fertilized.

But the state had only men in the Senate in 2012 and may end up without a single Republican woman in the chamber in 2025. There are just two Democratic women among the 46 members.

“You can’t tell me that’s not a slap in the face of women,” said Sen. Katrina Shealy who is gearing up for a runoff. “Republican women lose like this over one issue when we fought so hard for other things.”

Bucking the tide

Voters on Tuesday went against a trend of having second thoughts about more restrictive abortion law.

Statewide polling has indicated a near total ban doesn’t have wide support. But turnout was low and races were in Republican-drawn districts, where experts say voters tend to be more fervent about issues like abortion.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-parsely-url=«https%3A%2F%2Fapi.parsely.com%2Fv2%2Frelated%3Fapikey%3Dtest%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fgop-women-south-carolina-election-abortion-law-34ffb963558d62dbe7acdebf69d7eab3%26limit%3D9%26respect_empty_results%3D1%26pub_date_start%3D2024-03-14» data-parsely-title=«Related» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»>