Gov. Henry McMaster signs South Carolina fetal heartbeat bill into law

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Gov. Henry McMaster signed the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection From Abortion Act bill into law in a private, closed ceremony.

“With my signature, the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is now law and will begin saving the lives of unborn children immediately,” said Governor Henry McMaster.

“This is a great day for life in South Carolina, but the fight is not over. We stand ready to defend this legislation against any challenges and are confident we will succeed. The right to life must be preserved, and we will do everything we can to protect it.” McMaster added.

Breaking: Gov. Henry McMaster has signed a new, six-week abortion ban into law in South Carolina.

Planned Parenthood has said it’ll next file a lawsuit — its previous challenge to SC’s former six-week ban resulted in the state Supreme Court striking the law down in January.
— Mary Green (@MaryGreenNews) May 25, 2023

According to officials with Planned Parenthood, the nonprofit organization promised to immediately file a lawsuit challenging it in state court.

Planned Parenthood’s previous challenge to South Carolina’s former six-week ban resulted in the state Supreme Court ruling in January it violated the state constitutional right to privacy.

The law is effective immediately.

WIS News 10 will update this article when more information becomes available.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.