WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, by a vote of 27-19 the South Carolina Senate approved the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (S474). The bill now goes to Governor Henry McMaster for his signature.

Tuesday’s vote was the final legislative action needed to protect unborn children in South Carolina when the fetal heartbeat can be detected. On May 16, the South Carolina House passed the law by a vote of 82-33.

“South Carolina’s law will protect hundreds of lives each month,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Our South Carolina affiliate, South Carolina Citizens for Life, was at the forefront in seeing this bill pass the legislature. We congratulate them on their diligence, hard work, and a job well done.”

Representative John McCravy (R-Greenwood), Chairman of the House Family Caucus, said the bill could be signed as early as Wednesday or Thursday. He said it is anticipated that the abortion industry will file an immediate legal challenge.

According to the South Carolina State Department of Health and Environmental Control, there are approximately 1,000 abortions per month—largely due to out-of-state abortion traffic. Enactment of the Fetal Heartbeat Act would reduce the number of abortions occurring in South Carolina to 200-250 per month.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.