South Carolina supreme court upholds six-week abortion ban

Justices rejected Planned Parenthood’s argument over the definition of a ‘fetal heartbeat’ in loss for the health giantSouth Carolina’s state supreme court upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban in a decision issued on Wednesday, in a disappointing loss for Planned Parenthood.Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which operates clinics in South Carolina, sued over the state’s abortion ban, which outlaws the procedure after the emergence of a “fetal heartbeat”. Generally, these kinds of “heartbeat” bans have been interpreted to prohibit abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, when providers can detect cardiac activity from a fetus. Continue reading...