The South Carolina Supreme Court has once again upheld the state’s heartbeat law that has already saved thousands of babies from abortions.
In a unanimous ruling, the state’s highest court denied the appeal of two abortion businesses to enjoin the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection Act and to determine the meaning of “fetal heartbeat.” All five justices signed the order: Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty, and Justices John W. Kitteridge, John Cannon Few, George C. James, Jr., and D. Garrison Hill.
Planned Parenthood and the Greenville Women’s Clinic had asked the Supreme Court to take “original jurisdiction” over the question of when a fetal heartbeat is a fetal heartbeat. Original jurisdiction means the Supreme Court agrees to decide the issue without litigation first being filed in the lower courts. The Justices stated the abortion industry can file litigation.
Planned Parenthood and the Greenville Women’s Clinic do most of the abortions that end the lies of little babies in the state. The abortion industry argued the fetal heart is not developed until the ninth week of gestation – well after the heartbeat can be detected, even though science confirms the heart starts beating around 22 days after conception.
Planned Parenthood alleged that “around 91 percent” of its clients seeking abortions in Columbia and Charleston were denied an abortion from the time when the court upheld the Fetal Heartbeat Act. The Act defines the fetal heartbeat as “cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.” This activity can be heard and seen on ultrasound by at least the sixth week of pregnancy, if not sooner.
On August 23, 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a 4-1 opinion upholding the Fetal Heartbeat Act. Beatty was the only dissenter. Planned Parenthood and the Greenville Women’s Clinic then asked the court to stop the law from being enforced on the grounds that the definition of fetal heartbeat is ambiguous.
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The November 14, 2023, Court order reads: “Petitioners have filed a petition for original jurisdiction asking the Court to determine the meaning of the term ‘fetal heartbeat’ as used in the 2023 version of the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. … Petitioners further ask the Court to enjoin the enforcement of the Act. We deny the request for injunctive relief. The petition for original jurisdiction is otherwise denied without prejudice to Petitioner’s right to file an as-applied action in the circuit court.”
Less than 24 hours after the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, abortions dropped by 70 percent at Planned Parenthood across the street from the South Carolina Citizens for Life office.
Mark Baumgartner, president of A Moment of Hope sidewalk counseling, issued a press release stating, “Today was the first full abortion day since the new Heartbeat Law went into effect. Praise the Lord with us that abortions were down 70% from normal in Columbia.
“We typically have been seeing 20 abortions and today we saw only 6! (13 clients arrived, 6 left before an abortion and another came on the Ultrasound RV and decided to keep her baby.”
In Columbia Planned Parenthood schedules abortions 2-3 times per week including every Tuesday, first, second, fourth and fifth Saturdays of the month, every third Saturday, and lately the abortion business added most Wednesdays. In addition to A Moment of Hope, many area Catholic parishes offer prayer support on abortions days and assistance to mothers who turn
away from abortion.
A Moment of Hope is a highly effective sidewalk ministry with an RV mobile unit that offers women free ultrasounds before they enter the killing center. A Moment of Hope, in operation for 11 years, is “an evangelical Christian outreach to women arriving at Columbia’s abortion facility,” according to its website.
“Please be assured that A Moment of Hope will be present every day Planned Parenthood is open and still killing babies. Whether 6 or 20, each life is precious, and we will be there until this place finally closes down.”
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed the heartbeat law earlier this year, but abortion activists quickly took the pro-life measure to court.
Attorney General Alan Wilson applauded the decision upholding the law, saying it confirms the right to privacy in the state constitution does not apply to killing babies in abortions.
“The right to life is foremost and absolutely must be protected and prioritized,” Wilson said in a release. “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.”
In the original ruling, Justice John Kittredge penned the majority opinion.
He wrote, “The legislature has made a policy determination that, at a certain point in the pregnancy, a woman’s interest in autonomy and privacy does not outweigh the interest of the unborn child to live. As a Court, unless we can say that the balance struck by the legislature was unreasonable as a matter of law, we must uphold the Act.”
“[T]he legislature has found that the State has a compelling interest in protecting the lives of unborn children. That finding is indisputable and one we must respect,” it added.
