S. Carolina lawmakers look at the most restrictive abortion bill in the US

A bill that would allow judges to sentence women who get abortions to decades in prison and could restrict the use of IUDs and in vitro fertilization goes before a small group of South Carolina senators Tuesday. This would be the first of at least a half-dozen legislative steps for the proposal that includes the strictest abortion prohibitions and punishments in the nation. The subcommittee of the state Senate’s Medical Affairs Committee can change it Tuesday afternoon and even if it’s approved, its prospects are doubtful at best. But even at this stage, the bill has gone further than any other such proposal across the U.S. since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, opening the door for states to implement abortion bans. The proposal would ban all abortions unless the woman’s life is threatened. Current state law bans abortions after cardiac activity is detected, which is typically six week into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Current law also allows abortions for rape and incest victims up to 12 weeks. The proposal would also do things that aren’t being done in any other state. Women who get an abortion and anyone who helps them could face up to 30 years in prison. It appears to ban any contraception that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting, which would ban intrauterine devices and could limit in vitro fertilization. Providing information about abortions would be illegal, leaving doctors worried they couldn’t suggest places where the procedure is legal. Republican Sen. Richard Cash, who sponsors the bill and is one of the Senate’s most strident voices against abortion, will run Tuesday’s subcommittee. He acknowledged problems last month with potentially banning contraception and restricting the advice doctors can give to patients. But he has given no indication what changes he or the rest of the subcommittee might support. Six of the nine members are Republicans. Abortion remains an unsettled issue in conservative states and how much more to restrict it is fracturing anti-abortion groups. South Carolina Citizens for Life, one of the state’s largest and oldest opponents of abortion, issued a statement last month saying it can’t support Cash’s bill because women who get abortions are victims too and shouldn’t be punished. On the other side, at least for this bill, are groups like Equal Protection South Carolina. “Abortion is murder and should be treated as such,” founder Mark Corral said.

FEMA acting chief David Richardson departs after six months on the job

The acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency left his job Monday after just six months, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the latest disruption in a year of mass staff departures, program cuts and policy upheaval at the agency charged with managing federal disaster response. David Richardson, who in his brief term remained largely out of public sight, is leaving the post after he faced a wave of criticism for his handling of the deadly Texas floods earlier this year. He replaced previous acting head Cameron Hamilton in May. DHS did not comment on the details of Richardson’s departure, but a FEMA employee familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Richardson resigned. The employee spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the changes with the media. The Washington Post first reported the news about Richardson’s resignation. A former Marine Corps officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and also led the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office, Richardson had no previous emergency management experience when he assumed the role of “senior official performing the duties of administrator” in May. After replacing Hamilton, who was fired one day after telling a House appropriations committee that he did not think FEMA should be eliminated, Richardson vowed to help fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal to push more disaster recovery responsibilities to the states and told FEMA employees he would “ run right over ” anyone who tried to obstruct that mission.