A South Carolina Republican wants to reintroduce a bill that would make abortions punishable by death.
The South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act is a bill that seeks to include "an unborn child at any stage of development" in the state's definition of "person," as reported by HuffPost. Doing so would categorize abortion in many instances as murder.
The bill, which was first introduced in 2023, was pre-filed by State Rep. Rob Harris. As it stands, homicide convictions carry a minimum sentence of 30 years in South Carolina, and special instances can warrant a life sentence or the death penalty.
Harris sponsored the bill, and dozens of other Republicans added their names. But after heavy public outcry, several removed their names. Republican state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey stated at the time that the bill had "zero chance" of becoming law, which proved to be correct as the bill died months later, as reported by WCSC.
Seven other sponsors have since signed on to Harris' reintroduced bill, as reported by FOX Carolina.
South Carolina currently has a six-week abortion ban, although several state House members have filed a bill that would implement a total abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest or where the mother's life is at risk, as reported by WBTW.
Doctors who perform abortions outside of these exceptions could face up to two years in prison and could be fined up to $10,000.
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