South Carolina signs six-week 'heartbeat' abortion bill into law
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null / Shutterstock.CNA Newsroom, May 25, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA).South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Thursday prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy that goes into effect immediately.The Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, passed the Republican-controlled Senate Tuesday in a 27-19 vote, a week after the House passed the bill. The new law includes exceptions for rape and incest, the life of the mother, and fetal abnormalities up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. "With my signature, the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is now law and will begin saving the lives of unborn children immediately," the Republican governor said. "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," he said.South Carolina had previously banned a...
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CNA Newsroom, May 25, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Thursday prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy that goes into effect immediately.
The Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, passed the Republican-controlled Senate Tuesday in a 27-19 vote, a week after the House passed the bill. The new law includes exceptions for rape and incest, the life of the mother, and fetal abnormalities up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
"With my signature, the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is now law and will begin saving the lives of unborn children immediately," the Republican governor said.
"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," he said.
South Carolina had previously banned abortion after 22 weeks. The change in the law makes Virginia the only southern state that has not added further restrictions to abortion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The South Carolina Catholic Conference released a statement applauding the passage of the bill.
"The Fetal Heartbeat Act is the strongest pro-life bill the state General Assembly has ever passed. The Catholic Conference thanks Senate leadership for coming together to pass a life-affirming bill that protects babies and their mothers.
"We anticipate the abortion industry will file an immediate legal challenge. The battle will now move to the courts. For now, this is an incredible victory for life in the Palmetto State. Praise be to God!" the statement read.
Abortion providers Planned Parenthood and Greenville Women's Clinic have filed a lawsuit challenging the law.
"Abortion providers have asked a state trial court to block S. 474 on the grounds that it violates South Carolinians' constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection, and substantive due process by banning abortion, providing inadequate protections for patients' health, conditioning sexual assault survivors' access to abortion on the disclosure of their personal information to law enforcement, violating the Medicaid Act, and improperly targeting Planned Parenthood through an unconstitutional bill of attainder," Planned Parenthood said in a statement.
South Carolina's Supreme Court struck down a six-week abortion ban in January. Justice Kaye Hearn, who authored the ruling, has since retired. Her seat is now held by Justice Gary Hill, who was elected by both houses of the majority-Republican Legislature.
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Pope Francis greeted pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, a few hours before he will be hospitalized for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. / Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Jun 7, 2023 / 03:01 am (CNA).Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery under general anesthesia on Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican has confirmed.The operation was planned by the pope's medical team in recent days after it became necessary due to a hernia that was causing recurrent, painful, and worsening symptoms, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. Bruni said that Pope Francis will have a laparotomy and abdominal wall reconstruction with prosthetic material in the early afternoon on June 7. The pope will be taken to Rome's Gemelli Hospital immediately after his general audience in St. Peter's Square and will recover in the hospital for several days post-surgery.The news of Pope Francis' surgery comes one day after Italian media reported that he went to Gemell...
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Pope Francis prayed before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux at the beginning of his general audience in St. Peter's Square, and shortly before going to the hospital for an abdominal surgery, on June 7, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Jun 7, 2023 / 04:37 am (CNA).One of Pope Francis' last gestures before undergoing abdominal surgery on Wednesday was to pray before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux.A relic of the French Carmelite nun, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, was present on the platform in front of St. Peter's Basilica during the pope's weekly general audience June 7.Before beginning the audience, Francis venerated the relics of St. Therese in a moment of silent prayer. He also placed a single, white rose on the table in front of the reliquary.Pope Francis was taken to Rome's Gemelli Hospital for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia at the end of the morning audience, shortly after 11:00 a.m. Rome time, the Vatican said. Relics of St. There...
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President Joe Biden welcomes the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House in Washington, D.C., June 5, 2023. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (back row, center) wore a tie with a pro-life message on it. / Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesBoston, Mass., Jun 6, 2023 / 15:15 pm (CNA).During the Kansas City Chiefs' visit to the White House on Monday in celebration of their Super Bowl victory in February, the team's kicker, Harrison Butker, made a statement in support of the unborn by wearing a custom-made necktie with a pro-life message.Butker, a faithful Catholic, wore a tie that says "Vulnerari Praesidio," a Latin phrase he says means "protect the most vulnerable.""I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives," Butker said in a June 6 statement.Butker is referring to the Biden administration's aggressive pro-abortion stance, a position that has put Biden at odds with the...
