By Dave Andrusko
Gov. Nikki Haley is widely expected to sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, passed yesterday by the state House and by the state Senate last March, making South Carolina the 14th state to protect babies capable of experiencing excruciating pain when aborted. An abundance of medical evidence establishes that the unborn reaches this developmental stage by 20 weeks, if not earlier.
The votes were overwhelming in both chambers: 79-29 in the House and 36-9 in the Senate.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is already on the books in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Lisa Van Riper, President of South Carolina Citizens for Life, told NRL News Today, “South Carolina Citizens for Life and our state’s strong pro-life and pro-family community are grateful for the work of our General Assembly to establish a compelling state interest in protecting the lives of unborn children when they can feel pain – especially the excruciating pain of abortion.”
“I believe that life begins at conception and every step we can take to get back to that point is important,” the bill’s sponsor, South Carolina state Representative Wendy Nanney, told Reuters. “In my view and many others it’s inhumane to subject that baby to pain at 20 weeks.”
Mary Spaulding Balch, JD, director of National Right to Life’s Department of State Legislation, told NRL News Today, “South Carolina Citizens for Life are to be congratulated for all their hard work,” adding, “Senate Democrats had stalled passage for years.”
“South Carolina joins thirteen other states in recognizing the humanity of the unborn child,” said Balch. “The smallest and most vulnerable members of our human family need our protection, and South Carolina has taken a vital step to save unborn children who are capable of feeling the excruciating pain of abortions.”
The idea behind the legislation has wide support, based on model legislation provided by National Right to Life, and not just in the states where the bill has become law.
In a nationwide poll of 1,623 registered voters in November 2014, The Quinnipiac University Poll found that 60% would support a law such as the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks, while only 33% opposed such legislation. Women voters split 59-35% in support of such a law, while independent voters supported it by 56-36%.
Some of the extensive evidence that unborn children have the capacity to experience pain, at least by 20 weeks fetal age, is available on the NRLC website at nrlc.org/abortion/fetalpain and also at doctorsonfetalpain.com.
“Pain-capable unborn children should be protected from the violent act of abortion,” Balch said. “In our upside-down society, most animals have more rights than unborn members of the human family. We are thankful the South Carolina legislature has recognized their solemn duty in protecting the lives of the most vulnerable.”
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act “will save lives,” Balch concluded. “We will continue to work to save as many children as we can until we can save them all.”