South Carolina Clarifies ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Timing (1)

South Carolina’s “heartbeat” abortion ban prohibits intentionally terminating a pregnancy as early as six weeks’ gestation, not nine as proposed by reproductive rights advocates, the state’s top court said Wednesday.

“While we do not frame our holding today in the shorthand terms of a number of weeks, the biologically identifiable moment in time we hold is the ‘fetal heartbeat’ under the 2023 Act occurs in most instances at approximately six weeks of pregnancy,” the South Carolina Supreme Court said.

Abortion remains unlawful in South Carolina with a few narrow exceptions, but the decision clears up confusion over when doctors ...