While pro-lifers are working hard to push anti-abortion legislation in the states, some of the very politicians who have pledged to support them are sabotaging their efforts.

In South Carolina and Nebraska this week, pro-life bills failed in the state legislature due to the votes of Republicans who were previously considered pro-life.

It would appear that some Republicans are taking a page from the Democrats’ playbook, echoing language about how abortion is necessary for women. Republican state Senators Penry Gustafson, Sandy Senn, and Katrina Shealy helped lead the charge to block South Carolina’s bill that would’ve totally banned abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and risk to the life of the mother.

According to the Associated Press, Gustafson “spent over 30 minutes Wednesday detailing the bodily changes throughout every stage of pregnancy. Gustafson said she spoke so long because the millions of women addressed in the bill had not been heard. She emphasized her ‘pro-life’ position but said the proposal left ‘no room for empathy, reality or graciousness.’”

Senn, meanwhile, lambasted the state Senate’s Republican majority leader for “taking us off a cliff on abortion.” Incredibly, Senn likened the bill to the women’s oppression in The Handmaid’s Tale and said that abortion laws “have always been, each and every one of them, about control—plain and simple. And in the Senate, the males have all the control.”

She couldn’t have said it better if she were a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman.

Abortion is still available until 22 weeks in the Palmetto State, long after a preborn baby has developed a heartbeat. A 22-week-old fetus in the womb is developing his or her lungs and taste buds and can feel pain. One might ask, where’s the empathy for this reality?

South Carolina wasn’t the only state where this took place. In Nebraska, Republican state Senator Merv Riepe abstained from a vote on a six-week abortion ban, killing the legislation. Abortion remains legal up until 20 weeks in the Cornhusker State.

Nearly a decade ago, Riepe received a 0% rating from Planned Parenthood Voters of Nebraska. He must be trying to up his score. Riepe said that a six-week ban would’ve been, effectively, a total ban, as not all women know they’re pregnant by six weeks.

“No group came to me, asking me to do this,” he said. “This is of my own beliefs, my own commitments.”

And what exactly are those commitments? It’s telling that the Republicans opposing the recent anti-abortion legislation have only been able to come up with pro-abortion talking points to defend their stances. Pro-lifers who squander a chance to limit abortion and protect the lives of preborn babies:  Are they pro-life  at all?