'That weighs on me. I voted for that bill': Lawmaker regrets voting for abortion ban

One of the congressmen who supported the original six-week ban is very troubled by the news that South Carolina is exploring a new, nearly absolute abortion ban.

Now that the consequences of the abortion ban are coming to light, State representative Neal Collins as per Jezebel regrets voting for it.

The law came into effect in June but was temporarily blocked on August 17.

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A video is now going viral on social media, and in it, Collins appears to be fighting back tears.

This is from a recent public hearing for the House Judiciary Committee on proposed legislation that would outlaw the majority of abortions in South Carolina.

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Apparently, just two weeks after the law came into effect Collins was contacted by a doctor regarding a 19-year-old who was receiving treatment at a nearby emergency room.

When the pregnant teen's water broke at 15 weeks, she went to the emergency department. However, due to the six-week limit, doctors were unable to perform a dilation and evacuation surgery, which could have spared her a great deal of pain and potential infections.

"The attorneys told the doctors that because of the fetal heartbeat bill, because that 15-week-old had a heartbeat, the doctors could not extract [the fetus]. So their only choices were to admit the 19-year-old until that fetal heartbeat stopped" or discharge her.

The doctor told Collins that the heartbeat could've continued, for "seconds, minutes, hours, maybe days."

"What we do matters," said Collins, appearing to hold back tears.

The 19-year-old was eventually discharged by the doctors, to deal with the loss "on her own"even as she faced a 50 per cent risk of losing her uterus. She also had a 10 per cent chance of developing sepsis and dying.

“That weighs on me. I voted for that bill. These are affecting people,” Collins added. “That whole week I did not sleep.”

As per the Associated Press, the committee decided to advance an almost complete abortion ban to the House floor in a vote of 13-7.

(With inputs from agencies)

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