Charleston, S.C., May 24, 2016 / 23:33 pm
South Carolina has moved closer to stronger legal restrictions against abortion, with a bill to ban most abortions after 19 weeks, due to evidence that unborn children can feel pain at that point.
Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston said the passage of South Carolina's latest pro-life bill marks "a truly great day… especially for the many children that will be saved by this important life-affirming legislation," the Charleston diocese's newspaper The Catholic Miscellany reports.
"This act will support not only the moral law but also (the) proven scientific fact that unborn children feel pain by at least 20 weeks of development after fertilization," he added. "As the Holy Father has said, 'Let us say "yes" to life, and "no" to death'."
Michael Acquilano, director of the South Carolina Catholic Conference, said that abortions have declined by 57 percent in South Carolina after the passage of 14 laws that protect life.
The newest legislation would ban abortions after 19 weeks except for cases when a doctor determines the mother's life is at risk or that the unborn baby cannot survive outside the womb. A doctor who violates the law would face up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.