Friday, September 9, 2022
Mike Reichenbach Statement on Passage of Strong Pro-Life Legislation
Friends, as promised I am here to provide you an update on what has resulted from the Senate’s 20+ hours of debate this week on stronger pro-life legislation. This post may be a little longer than usual, but I think it’s important you understand the story and context for how we arrived at the end of the day.
First let me begin by setting the stage that I am 100% Pro-Life. To me that means that all lives, from the moment of conception, have value and should be cherished. And that we must do all we can to protect life. I will vote for all opportunities to save more unborn lives.
We also knew going into this debate that it was not going to be easy. The issue of abortion brings up strongly-held, passionate beliefs on both sides of the debate… and we knew going in the votes to pass a bill were very close.
The bill that arrived to the Senate by the House was essentially a ban on all abortions with exceptions for rape or incest in which the probable age of the fetus is fewer than twelve weeks. After vigorous debate, the Medical Affairs Committee decided to present what is called a “committee report” to the body to remove those exceptions. I supported the committee report because I wanted the STRONGEST bill that saves the most unborn lives as possible. The report was adopted as the working bill.
The next few hours of debate were mostly spent tweaking around the edges on various matters and hearing speeches, but then Senator Tom Davis offered an amendment to restore exceptions to the bill up to twenty weeks after probable post-fertilization. I voted NO because this was not the time to “water-down” the bill. We needed to continue the fight to save more of the 6,000 unborn lives lost to abortion in South Carolina each year under twenty weeks. The amendment failed.
The next consequential vote came late in the evening authored by Senator Josh Kimbrell to allow for exceptions for rape or incest up to six weeks, but it also added enhancements to the reporting requirements to law enforcement for allegations of rape or incest and sealed the names of minor victims unless ordered by a court. While I greatly respect Senator Kimbrell’s efforts to try to reach a compromise with a number of Republican Senators who were clear that they would not support a bill without exceptions tied to it, I voted NO on the amendment.
The amendment failed… but only after Democrats started playing Washington-style games. I failed to mention that up to this point in the debate, the Democrats refused to vote on any amendments. They were in the chamber, they were participating in the debate, but as one Democratic Senator said was going to make “Republicans own it” and were not going to "help put lipstick on a pig.” When Democrats realized Senator Kimbrell’s amendment had enough Republican support to pass they voted… with the more Pro-Life position to oppose exceptions.
This was the moment in which the strategy we all thought was coming became evident. The Democrats were going to try to make the bill as unpalatable as possible to the deciding swing-vote Republicans in an effort to BLOCK the Pro-Life Senators from getting the necessary Supermajority needed to shut off a filibuster. The rules of the Senate are not quite like the House. They are designed to allow for more substantive debate and to allow each individual Senator their right to speak. As a limited-government Republican, this can be a good thing to ensure that important legislation is not rushed through without proper due diligence but it also means that nearly every piece of legislation could require a supermajority for passage.
The Democrats were now playing Washington-style games with the precious lives of the unborn. At this point, the Senate adjourned for the evening to reassess strategy and come in refreshed for a long day of debate on Thursday.
The first major vote on Thursday was a “cloture” vote. Cloture is the term used under Senate rules to end debate, restrict the number amendments and prevent a filibuster. This was a deciding vote in which 26 votes were needed to close debate and proceed to the bill with no exceptions. I voted AYE, but the motion failed 13-30. The “no exceptions” team needed double the support to get a bill passed.
At this point the Senate recessed to allow the Majority and Minority Caucuses the opportunity to meet in private and discuss next steps. Unfortunately, it became clear the votes for a bill without exceptions were clearly not there.
This was the pivotal decision: go home with no bill or try to reach a compromise to save as many unborn babies as possible? I was NOT willing to go home defeated having done nothing to save lives… that would be truly unacceptable.
Some context here: the South Carolina Supreme Court recently entered into an injunction on the Heartbeat Bill passed during this last regular session which restricts abortion at the moment when a heartbeat is detectable (approximately 6 weeks) unless the pregnancy is a result of rape, incest or is a fatal fetal anomaly up to twenty weeks of term. In the Court’s order, it left much ambiguity to the Constitutionality of the Act due to “conflicting Code sections” and “unclear legislative intent.” I am not a lawyer, but it was clear the Court was sending a message that if we did nothing, there was a material risk that abortion-on-demand might be the law of South Carolina. Again, doing nothing was not an option.
At this point the majority of the Senate Republicans decided to move forward in an effort to fix the Heartbeat Bill and make it stronger for the Pro-Life position.
This was not my first preference and I was hopeful that we could get ultimately get a bill to completely outlaw abortion in South Carolina. However, when passed just months ago, the Heartbeat Bill was applauded by the Pro-Life community as one of the STRONGEST laws in the nation for the unborn, and we now had the opportunity…and the votes…to make the bill even stronger.
When this amendment — to strengthen the Heartbeat Bill — was presented to the body something clear changed. The Democrats were no longer in control. For the first time in the debate, the Democrats' efforts to block the bill and make us go home with nothing was failing.
The amendment offered by the Majority Leader Shane Massey passed with a vote of 26-17. We now had the necessary 26 votes needed to end the debate and pass a bill.
While we — who are unapologetically Pro-Life — certainly did not get everything I had hoped for, the improvements to the strong Heartbeat bill are wonderful additions, which include:
— Cleans up conflicts in the law addressed by the Supreme Court
— Moves the exceptions for rape, incest and fatal fetal anomaly from 20 weeks to the first trimester
— Requires preservation of a DNA sample of the fetus to assist law enforcement in the prosecution of those who have committed sexual assault or incest
— Requires two physicians’ sign-offs that a fatal fetal anomaly exists
— And makes permanent law that NO state funds may be used to fund Planned Parenthood
The final bill passed with at 27-16 vote, joined by one Senate Democrat. Is it everything that I had hoped for? Not at all. But does this bill save more unborn lives that the law today? Absolutely, yes!
Charisse and I thank you all for your prayers and kind messages this week. The fight for the unborn does not end here. Tomorrow, we reassess, game-plan for the next opportunity, start whipping more votes, and suit up to go back into the battlefield.
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