The South Carolina Supreme Court has unanimously determined that the state can continue banning abortion at the point when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
The law, which the court upheld on Wednesday, bans the procedure at approximately six weeks of pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood had challenged the law in court, arguing that the law should not apply until nine weeks of pregnancy.
According to the law, abortions cannot be performed once an ultrasound can detect “cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.”
The Associated Press reports, “The state argued that is the moment when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity. Planned Parenthood said the words after the ‘or’ mean the ban should only start after the major parts of the heart come together and ‘repetitive rhythmic contraction’ begins, which is often around nine weeks.”
The court ultimately determined that the law must be based on the intent of the general assembly, which was clearly to ban the practice at six weeks, not nine.
“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 AP report also noted, “And the Supreme Court pointed out Planned Parenthood used the phrase ‘six-week ban’ more than 300 times in previous filings, as South Carolina’s 2021 ban at cardiac activity was overturned in a 3-2 decision in 2023 and then reinstated months later after the General Assembly tweaked the law and the court’s only woman who overturned the ban had to retire because of her age.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling states:
“This Court holds that it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the General Assembly intended, and the public understood, that the time frame of the Act would begin around the six-week mark. The moral and ethical issues that this case presents are immense and this Court does not take that lightly. However, as Justice Kittredge noted in Planned Parenthood II, the courts must respect the separation of powers principles and the limited (non-policy) role it is enshrined with, and this Court must approach this case with one single commitment: to honor the rule of law. The South Carolina Supreme Court and the General Assembly have spoken. This Court must listen.”
Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster celebrated the decision, issuing a statement saying, “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.”
Read the full article here