The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the state can keep restricting abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, which is when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
The justices ruled against Planned Parenthood’s challenge parsing the language of the law to claim it would apply after nine weeks of pregnancy. The court wrote in its decision that the clear intent of the General Assembly when writing the law was a six-week restriction, Associated Press reported. The law states that abortions cannot be performed after an ultrasound detects “cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.”
“We could find not one instance during the entire 2023 legislative session in which anyone connected in any way to the General Assembly framed the Act as banning abortion after approximately nine weeks,” Associate Justice John Few wrote.
The state Supreme Court further pointed out that Planned Parenthood had used the phrase “six-week ban” more than 300 times in previous filings challenging the law, before it changed to its “nine-weeks” argument.
The law faces other challenges, including a lawsuit from five OB-GYN doctors alleging the supposedly vague language of the law makes them fearful of being charged with crimes, according to the report. The law includes exceptions for rape or incest during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, medical emergencies, or fatal fetal anomalies. Doctors in the state who do not comply with the law could face felony charges punishable by two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said the state will continue to defend its law protecting unborn babies from abortions.
“Today’s ruling is another clear and decisive victory that will ensure the lives of countless unborn children remain protected and that South Carolina continues to lead the charge in defending the sanctity of life,” he said in a statement.
Abortion giant Planned Parenthood pledged to keep challenging the restriction.
“Justice did not prevail today, and the people of South Carolina are paying the price. People have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will, suffered life-threatening infections, and died as a direct result of this abortion ban,” the organization said in a statement.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
