SC atty. gen. praises Supreme Court decision to not rehear Fetal Heartbeat case

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina’s attorney general responded Tuesday afternoon to the state Supreme Court’s denial of a petition to rehear the latest case involving the state’s so-called Fetal Heartbeat Law.

Attorney General Alan Wilson issued the following statement:

As we have always argued and maintained, the Constitutional right to privacy does not apply to abortion. The right to life is foremost and absolutely must be protected and prioritized. We’re pleased with the Court’s decision to deny a petition to rehear this case. I believe this decision will have a long-lasting positive impact on the future of our state, and I’m honored our office was able to fight for the unborn and defend the rule of law.

The state’s high court upheld South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act as constitutional and ended an injunction blocking the law’s enforcement on Wednesday.

That injunction was issued shortly after Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the Greenville Women’s Clinic and two doctors filed a lawsuit against the state immediately after McMaster signed a new version of the act into law on May 25.

The state’s high court found the 2021 version of the bill unconstitutional back in January in a 3-2 vote. In response, the state’s General Assembly revised the 2021 law. The state’s newly-all-male Supreme Court heard arguments on the new lawsuit back in June.

The new act “generally prohibits an abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, not at a specified period of weeks into the pregnancy,” Justice John Kittredge wrote.

The law provides limited exceptions allowing for an abortion in the event of a risk to the health of the mother, fatal fetal anomalies, rape, and incest.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.