US: South Carolina’s Supreme Court overturns a law banning abortion after 6 weeks

In United States, in the first reversal of its kind, South Carolina’s Supreme Court has overturned a law banning abortion after six weeks, inflicting a major setback for abortion opponents in the conservative, southern state.

The state court ruled that, their state’s constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s decision to have an abortion.

The decision marked the first time a State top court has struck down such a law since the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June last year.

The US Supreme Court used similar reasoning in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that protected the right of American women to have an abortion for nearly half a century.

But in a historic turnabout, the highest court ruled in June last year that the 1973 decision was wrong and returned to the states the right to legislate as they saw fit.

Since June, restrictive measures have been blocked on an emergency basis in several states pending higher-level decisions. The South Carolina Supreme Court is the first to issue a final ruling.

The decision opens up new opportunities for women in nearby states such as Alabama and Tennessee who have no access to abortion and can now travel to South Carolina for the procedure.