South Carolina's new all-male Supreme Court has reversed course on abortion, upholding a ban on most such procedures after just weeks of pregnancy. The 4-1 ruling departs from the court's own decision earlier this year to strike down a similar law. The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone female on the court. Writing for the new majority, Justice John Kittredge acknowledged the ban infringes on “a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy.” But he said the legislature reasonably determined that those interests don’t outweigh what he calls “the interest of the unborn child to live.”
