Wed Aug 23, 2023 – 6:19 pm EDT
COLUMBIA (LifeSiteNews) — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday voted to uphold the state’s law banning abortions after a child’s heartbeat can be detected, usually about six weeks’ gestation. Heartbeat laws have been credited with sharply reducing the number of abortions committed in the states that enact them.
South Carolina’s highest court ruled in a 4-1 decision on August 23 that Senate Bill 474, the “Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” did not violate the state constitution and could take effect immediately. The move comes after a lower court blocked enforcement of the measure in late May.
RELATED: Judge temporarily blocks South Carolina’s heartbeat abortion ban one day after becoming law
The abortion restriction bans most abortions after about six weeks’ gestation, with exceptions for rape or incest up to 12 weeks, as well as for “fatal fetal anomalies,” or to save the life of the mother. Protections for babies younger than six weeks are not provided. Pro-lifers point out that life begins at conception, the deliberate killing of a preborn baby is never medically necessary, and that preborn babies are not at fault for the conditions
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