{"id":249340,"date":"2021-07-19T16:42:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T21:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=249340"},"modified":"2021-07-19T16:05:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T21:05:41","slug":"coalition-20-states-south-carolina-heartbeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/coalition-20-states-south-carolina-heartbeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition of 20 states files brief supporting South Carolina’s blocked ‘heartbeat law’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twenty states, led by Alabama, are standing with South Carolina after a federal judge blocked the state’s ‘heartbeat law’ from taking effect. Together, they have filed an amicus brief supporting South Carolina’s appeal of the ruling, arguing that the judge\u2019s decision was \u201can error-filled district court opinion.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed<\/a> the <\/span>Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act<\/span><\/a> into law. The law requires abortionists to provide an ultrasound for the mother, and if the preborn child\u2019s heartbeat is detected, abortion is prohibited. The human heart begins to beat between 16 and 22 days post-fertilization.\u00a0A doctor who commits abortions after the preborn child\u2019s heartbeat is detectable could face a felony charge, fines, and jail time.\u00a0<\/span>The law includes an exception for cases of a medical emergency, though the intentional killing of a preborn child is never <\/span>medically necessary<\/span><\/a>, and also has additional exceptions for rape, incest, and fetal diagnoses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Commenting on the law earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R) stated, \u201cIf this gets upheld by the courts, we will have saved thousands of lives in South Carolina every year.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just one day after the governor signed the bill, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and several other pro-abortion groups filed suit against it. U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis then granted a preliminary injunction against the law, which means that it can’t be put into effect until a court reaches a decision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit came as no surprise to pro-life advocates. When the House passed the bill in February, pro-abortion House members <\/span>walked out<\/span><\/a> in protest during the debate. One of those House members referred to the bill as a \u201cfarce of a vote about pretend life\u201d\u2014despite the <\/span>indisputable fact<\/span><\/a> that preborn children are living human beings from the moment of fertilization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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