Three female Republican senators who tried to defend abortion rights in South Carolina lost the primaries this month to men who ran on an anti-abortion campaign.

Katrina Shealy, Sandy Senn and Penry Gustafson were part of a bipartisan group of five female state senators, known as “sister senators,” who blocked a near-total ban on abortion in 2023.

During the filibuster debate, each of the five women took turns describing the complexities of pregnancy and the reproductive system, the dangers of lack of access to contraception, and inadequate privacy laws. Each representative spoke for up to four hours at a time. All five wore buttons reading “Elect More Women.”

Her filibuster prevented passage of the ban, which would have banned abortions at conception with few exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and life-threatening health complications for the fetus or mother.

After their filibuster debate, the five women were booed and harassed by anti-abortion activists. The three Republicans also faced fierce opposition within their own party – including rebukes and a promise to run in the 2024 primaries.

Because of their coordinated efforts, the group was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award last year.

But women were not rewarded in this month's primary: Shealy lost to Carlisle Kennedy on Tuesday after receiving only 37.5 percent of the vote.

Kennedy's campaign website said he was “proudly pro-life” and announced that he would “work to protect the unborn and advocate for policies that support mothers and families.”

Senn and Gustafson lost the primaries earlier this month. Gustafson, who represents three northern districts, lost the June 11 primary by a wide margin to Allen Blackmon, who received 82 percent of the vote.

Like Kennedy, Blackmon also advocated an anti-abortion agenda, declaring on his campaign website that all “born and unborn” “deserve protection.”

Senn, meanwhile, lost her race to Matt Leber by just over 30 votes.

Leber had previously voted for a state bill banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy if “a fetal heartbeat has been detected.” Most women do not know they are pregnant after six weeks of pregnancy.

South Carolina is one of 14 states that ban abortion at almost all stages of pregnancy according to Roe v. Wade was repealed in 2022 – eliminating the constitutional right to abortion across the country.

Since the constitutional right to abortion was abolished in the United States, the procedure has been completely banned in Indiana and North Dakota. In Texas, abortions are banned after the sixth week of pregnancy, and in North Carolina and Nebraska, abortions are banned after the twelfth week.