South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed a decree according to which almost all abortions are prohibited in the state. Reported by Reuters.
So, abortions carried out when a fetal heartbeat appears, that is, after about the sixth week of pregnancy, falls under the ban. Women’s health organization Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit claiming the document violates the U.S. Constitution.
District Court Judge Michael Huppert wrote in his opinion that the fetus is not yet viable in the sixth week of pregnancy. In various regions of the United States, abortion is generally prohibited after the fetus is viable outside the womb, that is, after the 24th week.
The problem of abortion is the subject of heated debate in the United States. Thus, in 1973, a woman’s rights to abortion were enshrined at the constitutional level. However, states can independently impose restrictions on termination of pregnancy.
Earlier it was reported that US President-elect Joe Biden will lift restrictions on abortion and other measures introduced in the field of family planning by the current head of state, Donald Trump. The latter banned federal funding of organizations promoting abortion, banned family planning firms from redirecting people to abortion clinics, which significantly reduced the flow of their clients.