(LibertySociety.com) – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) is a firm believer in the right to life. One of his top priorities as head of the state has been to protect the most vulnerable: the unborn. Recently, he was able to do that by signing a bill into law that would prevent nearly all abortions in the state, but now he’s being sued.
Fetal Heartbeat Law
On Thursday, February 18, McMaster signed the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” into law. The new legislation requires doctors to perform an ultrasound on women seeking to terminate their pregnancy. If there is a fetal heartbeat, the physician is not allowed to perform the procedure unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or unless there is a medical emergency or fetal anomaly. Heartbeats can be detected with an ultrasound as early as five and a half weeks.
When McMaster signed the bill, he said there are “a lot of happy hearts beating across” his state as a result of the new law. But that didn’t last long.
Pro-Choice Advocates Intervene
Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit the same day the bill was signed into law. The organization’s South Atlantic CEO, Jenny Black, called the new law “blatantly unconstitutional.” The Supreme Court has previously ruled that abortion is legal until the baby can live outside of the womb, which is currently around 24 to 28 weeks.
According to Nancy Northup, president of the Center of Reproductive Rights, the new abortion law “blatantly defies” the Supreme Court’s decision to “protect a person’s right to end a pregnancy.”
Meanwhile, McMaster posed the question, “What rights exist, if not the elementary, fundamental, profound right to life?”
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