South Carolina, United States

Lawmakers in the US state of South Carolina are all set to bring in a bill that would make a woman who had an abortion eligible for the death penalty. The bill called "South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023," seeks to amend the state's current law, redefining a "person" to include a fertilised egg at the point of conception, affording that zygote "equal protection under the homicide laws of the state" . Destroying it, therefore, will be punishable up to and including the death penalty, if the bill becomes law. Currently, South Carolina punishes abortion with a $1,000 fine and up to two years in prison. At least 13 US states have banned abortion following the Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe v Wade.

Advertisment

Here's everything you need to know about the bill:

Abortion rule in South Carolina:

Abortion is currently legal in South Carolina but up to 21 weeks and 6 days; outlawing a 2021 ban, where abortion at six weeks was struck down by the US top court, CNBC News reported. 

Advertisment

This is not the first time a US lawmaker has introduced the death penalty, which is one of the harshest punishments. Back in March 2021, Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton proposed legislation that would not only ban abortion but would also criminalise it, and might even lead up to the death penalty, the Texas Tribune reported. However, the bill, like other similar legislations, was not passed. 

'Life needs to be protected'

The bill authored by State Rep Rob Harris implies that getting an abortion is the same as committing homicide, Business Insider reported. The bill was initially pre-filed in December but now sits in the Judiciary Committee. Till now, 21 lawmakers have agreed to the bill. 

Advertisment

Harris told local media, "if we call and define it (fertilised egg) as a life, then why should anyone be able to take that life. If it's life, it need to be protected like any other life."

Harris said, “Murder of the pre-born is harsh.”

He added that the bill aims to ensure that an unborn child who is a victim of assault is offered equal protection under the assault laws of the state, but with exceptions.

Advocates of "Planned Parenthood" opposes the bill:

A spokesperson for "Planned Parenthood," Vicki Ringer criticised the bill. He told WBTW, "That's a hard pill to swallow for anybody.To recognise that you are not valuable. To call this equal protection, it is far from equal. It is giving greater weight to a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus than it is to a human being. You can consider a fetus to be a person, but you can't consider it to have more weight than the living person who is a life fully lived on this planet."

Rep Nancy Mace, who represents South Carolina in the US House said that she sees the bill as a "deeply disturbing" trend.