14-05-2025
State Supreme Court rules in latest abortion ban lawsuit
(WSPA) – The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday a lower courts ruling clarifying when a fetal heartbeat can be detected and how it applies to the state's ban on abortions after six weeks.
The supreme court upheld a previous decision which said fetal heartbeat activity can be detected at six weeks of pregnancy. State law says after a heartbeat is detectable, abortion is no longer an option.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, who signed the six week abortion ban in 2023, applauded the supreme court's decision.
'Time and time again, we have defended the right to life in South Carolina, and time and time again, we have prevailed.'
'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.'
Gov. Henry McMaster
Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina also commented on the decision.
'The extreme ban on most abortions is endangering the lives of pregnant South Carolinians and driving medical care providers away from our state. Many people do not find out they are pregnant until after the six-week cutoff that is now being imposed under South Carolina law, and the list of exceptions is so narrow that doctors are struggling to provide life-saving reproductive care for fear of criminal prosecution.'
'Until South Carolina ends its pattern of blatant gerrymandering, a loud and regressive minority will continue to steer our politics via primary elections, resulting in continued erosion of our reproductive freedom.'
Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina
Wednesday's decision is the latest in a long string of lawsuits by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to combat abortion bans enacted by the state legislature.
In 2021, the South Carolina General Assembly passed the Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act, which would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. At the time it was passed the law was considered unconstitutional due to the longstanding precedent established in Roe v Wade.
When the Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization which overturned Roe v Wade, the 2021 act became state law, and Planned Parenthood sued the state, arguing the law violated patients' constitutional right to privacy.
The state supreme court ultimately ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, prompting state lawmakers to revise the 2021 law, but using the same definition of 'fetal heartbeat' they used in the original law.
Planned Parenthood sued again and a circuit court ruled the law was still unconstitutional, but in a 2023 decision the state supreme court reversed that decision. At the time of that decision the court did not choose to address the meaning of what fetal heartbeat activity means.
Wednesday's decision ends another suit which aimed to clarify when fetal heartbeat activity can be detected in a pregnancy. Planned Parenthood argued heartbeat activity is not detectable until nine weeks of pregnancy, the state maintains it is detectable after six weeks.
A circuit court and the supreme court both sided with the state in the case.
This is a developing story, we will update it as more information becomes available.
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