UPDATE, 2/18/21: Governor McMaster signed the bill into law this afternoon, and pro-abortion groups vowed to file suit immediately.
2/18/21: On Wednesday, the South Carolina House passed a bill in a 79 to 35 vote to protect preborn children from the moment a heartbeat is detected. The Senate had already approved the measure in January, and it will now head to the desk of Governor Henry McMaster, who has promised to sign the bill as soon as possible.
However, during the debate on the House floor, pro-abortion House members walked out in protest after one member called it a “farce of a vote about pretend life.”
“… Ladies and gentlemen of the House, the Democratic Caucus will exit the House floor, and leave you all to the farce which is a debate about… life?” the member concluded. Watch:
The South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act would ban abortion once a preborn child’s heartbeat can be detected, with an exception for cases of a medical emergency. Abortion is actually never medically necessary. A doctor who commits abortions after the child’s heartbeat is detected could face a felony charge, fines, and jail time. The act still needs to pass a final procedural vote on Thursday which is not expected to change the outcome, according to CBS News.
Preborn children, from the moment of fertilization, are human beings. They are not “pretend life.” They are human life, and this is an indisputable biological fact.
READ: Biden says we must care for our ‘fellow human beings.’ Preborn children should be part of that.
The human heart begins to beat between 16 and 22 days post-fertilization, before most women even know they’re pregnant. According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, more than 2,500 abortions were reported in the state in 2019 after six weeks.
In addition to a heartbeat, by six weeks, a preborn child’s brain and eyes are present and her lungs are forming. By six weeks and two days, brain wave activity has begun, according to the Endowment for Human Development.
Though Governor McMaster is expected to sign the bill, it will likely face legal challenges, as have similar bills in other states.
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