South Carolina is set to become the 17th state in America to ban the abortion of babies after 19 weeks in their mothers' womb—the point in their lives when medical evidence shows that they are already capable of feeling pain.
This came about after the state House passed the South Carolina Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act on Tuesday by a commanding 79-29 vote majority, the Associated Press reports. The Senate passed it 36-9 last March.
Gov. Nikki Haley has indicated that she would sign the bill as soon as it cleared the legislature.
H. 3114 or the South Carolina Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act was passed to support South Carolina's state interest to protect the lives of unborn children.
Similar abortion laws are already being enforced in 12 states, the Associated Press reports. South Dakota's law signed in March will take effect this summer.
A similar law in Utah requires doctors to administer anaesthesia to a foetus at least 20 weeks in the womb.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Wendy Nanney, the bill's sponsor, is hoping the law will be a step to "get rid of abortion altogether."
"I firmly believe life begins at conception and anything we can do to protect human life I'm all for," she said.
The bill says that except in the case of a medical emergency or foetal anomaly, no abortion must be performed unless the doctor performing or inducing it has first made a determination of the probable post-fertilisation age of the unborn child or relied upon such a determination made by another physician.
A doctor who is found guilty of violating the law will be fined from $2,000 to $10,000 and imprisoned for not more than three years.
Sen. Brad Hutto, who opposed the bill, said it should be a woman's choice.
Four of 16 states which passed abortion restrictions since 2010 allow legal abortion if a doctor determines a child will be stillborn or die upon birth.
The South Carolina bill has no exceptions for rape or incest.
Supporters said a foetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. In South Carolina, fewer than 30 abortions a year on average are performed at 20 weeks gestation or beyond.
The ban would affect only hospitals as the state's three abortion clinics do not provide abortion beyond 15 weeks.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Greg Delleney said the law "prevents infanticide," adding that it ties the foetus' age to conception, rather than a woman's monthly cycle, since the ban refers to gestational age of 22 weeks.
