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April 28 (UPI) -- Efforts to expand abortion bans in Nebraska and South Carolina were narrowly blocked by legislators in the two states. South Carolina senators voted 22-21 as six Republicans joined Democrats Thursday to block the bill from being considered again until next year.
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Thursda's vote marked the second time in less than a year that abortion restrictions have failed in the legislature there.
South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said the anti-abortion votes just aren't there in the state senate.
"The Senate does not have the votes to pass a ban before six weeks," he said. "We gave it our best shot. It's up to the House now."
Republican South Carolina State Sen. Katrina Shealy criticized the legislature for repeatedly taking up the measure.
"It has been said that doing the same thing while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. And here we are again, doing the same thing," she said.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled a 6-week abortion ban unconstitutional in January. With the legislative failure of the latest effort to impose that ban, the state's former 20-week abortion ban is restored.
Nebraska's proposed ban would have eliminated the right to an abortion after fetus cardiac activity is detected, usually approximately six weeks into a pregnancy.
The effort to bring the measure to a vote failed by a single vote, meaning the abortion ban won't happen this year.
Nebraska State Senator Megan Hunt said state lawmakers have no right to come between women and doctors.
"Forced birth is evil, and a legitimate government would never compel a person to do that," she said.
In a statement, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen urged the state senate to try the six-week abortion ban again.
"I am a staunch defender of life and supporter of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act. I am profoundly disappointed in the cloture vote today," Pillen said. "It is unacceptable for senators to be present not voting on such a momentous vote. I call on Senator Merv Riepe to make a motion to reconsider and stand by the commitments to Life he has made in the past."
The abortion issue has been divisive, even among Republicans who control many state legislatures, since the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the 50-year national of women to choose what happens in their pregnancies.
As states wrestle politically with how to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning abortion rights, governors in Washington state and Minnesota Thursday signed legislation protecting abortion access and gender-affirming care.
