South Carolina Fails to Stave Off Abortion Ban Exception Lawsuit

South Carolina doctors can proceed with a lawsuit saying health and fetal anomaly exceptions to the state’s nine-week abortion ban are unconstitutionally vague, a federal trial court said.

The plaintiff physicians plausibly pleaded that the exceptions are vague because they don’t adequately notify doctors when performing an illegal abortion would be permitted, the US District Court for the District of South Carolina said Tuesday. Judge Richard Mark Gergel denied South Carolina’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, saying he would be in better position to evaluate the case once the parties complete discovery.

The case is one of many in ...