South Carolina Senate passes ban on abortion at 19 weeks

The South Carolina Senate has voted 36-9 to pass a bill to ban abortions past 19 weeks of pregnancy.

The bill would punish abortionists who perform abortions beyond that point with up to $10,000 in fines and three years in jail time. Its only exceptions are to save a mother’s life or cases of a fetal abnormality in which the baby would die upon delivery.

Bill sponsor Senator Larry Grooms, a Republican, hailed the vote as a “victory for life,” declaring that the “life of an unborn child is sacred. If government has any purpose it should be to protect life.”

If the bill is enacted, South Carolina will become the thirteenth state to cut off abortion at roughly five months, a line based on medical evidence that preborn children can feel pain by that time.

The D&E abortion, or dilation and evacuation, is the most prevalent procedure committed during this stage of pregnancy. Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino describes this horrific practice, which tears the preborn child apart limb from torso.

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Posted by Live Action on Wednesday, February 24, 2016

The bill has already passed the state House, but now returns to the chamber for a final vote to resolve differences between its and the Senate’s version. It could be cleared and head to Republican Governor Nikki Haley’s desk. Haley’s office has not specifically commented on whether she will sign it, but she is pro-life and is expected to.