“A daily reminder of an ugly incident  … ”: analysis of debate on rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation in six states in the southern US

Figures & data

Table 1. Southern states introducing early abortion bans in 2019 with publicly available data

State	Bill Number (Introduced in 2019)	Publicly Available Data	Data total (minutes)	Committee meetings (minutes)	Floor debates (minutes)
Georgia	House Bill 481	Yes	284	112	172
Kentucky	Senate Bill 9	Yes	118	55	63
Louisiana	Senate Bill 184	Yes	159	153	6
Mississippi	Senate Bill 2116	Yes	21	–	21
South Carolina	House Bill 3020	Yes	629	367	262
Tennessee	Senate Bill 1257	Yes	100	65	35

Table 2. Rape and incest exceptions in early abortion ban legislation across six southern states

State	Bill Number	Rape & Incest Exceptions	Excerpted Text on Rape & Incest Exceptions
Georgia	House Bill 481	Yes	“ … if physician determines a medical emergency exists; or the probable gestational age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or less and the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed alleging the offense of rape or incest.” ^Citation13
Kentucky	Senate Bill 9	No	… “if a medical emergency exists.” ^Citation14
Louisiana	Senate Bill 184	No	“ … to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.” ^Citation15
Mississippi	Senate Bill 2116	No	“ … to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.” ^Citation16
South Carolina	House Bill 3020	Yes	“ … physician determines according to standard medical practice that a medical emergency exists; or in cases of rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed alleging the offense of rape or incest.” ^Citation17
Tennessee	Senate Bill 1257	No	“ … exception for situations where the abortion is necessary to prevent the death of pregnant woman or prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.” ^Citation18

General Assembly G. HB 481 Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act; enact: Georgia General Assembly; 2019 [Available from: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/55445.

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General Assembly K. Senate Bill 9 Kentucky General Assembly: Kentucky General Assembly; 2019 [Available from: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/19RS/sb9.html.

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State Legislature L. SB 184 Louisiana State Legislature: Louisiana State Legislature; 2019 [Available from: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=236316.

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Legislature M. Senate Bill 2116 Mississippi Legislature: Mississippi Legislature; 2019 [Available from: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2019/pdf/history/SB/SB2116.xml.

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General Assembly SC. H. 3020 South Carolina General Assembly: South Carolina General Assembly; 2019 [Available from: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess123_2019-2020/bills/3020.htm

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Tennessee Senate Bill 1257 LegiScan2019 [Available from: https://legiscan.com/TN/bill/SB1257/2019

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