South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat Act now in effect, Attorney General says

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WMBF) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday night the state’s Fetal Heartbeat Act is now in effect after the U.S. District Court of South Carolina stayed the injunction blocking the implementation of the law.

“The Heartbeat Law is now in effect. Once Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, the decision on legally protecting the lives of unborn babies was returned to the states, so there was no longer any basis for blocking South Carolina’s Heartbeat Law,” Wilson said. “Our state is now carrying out a government’s most sacred and fundamental duty, protecting life.”

South Carolina’s law outlaws abortions after the point at which a fetal heartbeat is detected and requires an abortionist to give a mother the opportunity to view an ultrasound, hear her child’s heartbeat, and receive information about her child’s development.

There are exceptions allowing abortions in cases of rape or incest, as long as the fetus is fewer than 20 weeks along, and in cases in which an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother.

The state cannot ban medications that terminate pregnancies though.

In December, the Food and Drug Administration lifted long-standing restrictions on mifepristone, allowing doctors to prescribe the medication online and send them to patients by mail.

Mifepristone and misoprostol were approved by the FDA for use in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Misoprostol was available with a prescription before the FDA’s decision.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement last week, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, that states cannot ban medications used to bring about an abortion.

The medications cannot be banned based on disagreement with the federal government on their safety and efficacy.

You can read the order here.