“A Republican state senator in South Carolina is filibustering a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy because he opposes the bill’s exceptions for rape and incest victims. South Carolina State Sen. Lee Bright (R) started his filibuster on the Senate Floor Thursday, postponing the vote on the abortion bill, as well as another bill that would repair the state’s roads. He argued before his colleagues that rape is not a good enough excuse to exempt women from the abortion ban.We’re not talking about a woman that was assaulted that goes into the emergency room – which, I would argue, that child still has a right,” Bright said.

““ “We’re talking about somebody that had 20 weeks.” Bright also said he worried that women would falsely claim they were raped in order to qualify for the exemption. “After 20 weeks if you wanted to get an abortion, you could go and say you were raped and you could have the abortion,” he said. “You wouldn’t be denied. There’s no police report.”

“South Carolina’s House of Representatives passed a version of the same bill earlier this year, sponsored by State Rep. Wendy Nanney (R). That bill included exceptions for the life of the mother, but none for rape and incest victims or severe fetal anomalies. Senate Republicans tried to include the later exceptions in amendments to their bill, before the whole thing was blocked by Bright. They believed it would make the bill more palatable to moderates. State Sen. Larry Grooms (R) even told colleagues: “I’m not comfortable with the exceptions. But if we can’t save them all, let’s save what we can.”

Speaking to Newslo, Bright stated that “rapists are also human beings, and were, just like other people, created by God. However, that’s still not a good enough reason to allow abortion.”

“We were all put on God’s green Earth to do our part,” he told Newslo. “Some have significant roles, others less significant ones, but we’re all here because of Him. That includes also the deviant members of His flock, such as rapists. They, too, are here because of Him, but that is not and must not ever be a reason to bend or break our laws.”