Reference is to Printer's Date 4/4/19-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 1 and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat Detection Act". /
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, BY STRIKING SECTION 2 AND INSERTING:
/ SECTION 2. Chapter 41, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 44-41-610. As used in this
article:
(1)
'Fetal heartbeat' means cardiac activity or the steady and
repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the
gestational sac.
(2)
'Spontaneous miscarriage' means the natural or accidental
termination of a pregnancy and the expulsion of the human fetus,
typically caused by genetic defects in the human fetus or
physical abnormalities in the pregnant woman.
Section 44-41-620. (A)
It is the intent of the legislature that a
court judgment or order suspending enforcement of any provision
of this article or of Sections 44-41-10 through 44-41-480 is not
to be regarded as tantamount to repeal of that provision.
(B) After the issuance
of a decision by the United States Supreme Court overruling
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), the issuance of any
other court order or judgment restoring, expanding, or
clarifying the authority of states to prohibit or regulate
abortion entirely or in part, or the effective date of an
amendment to the Constitution of the United States restoring,
expanding, or clarifying the authority of states to prohibit or
regulate abortion entirely or in part, the Attorney General may
apply to the pertinent state or federal court for either or both
of the following:
(1)
a declaration that any one or more of the statutory
provisions specified in subsection (A) are constitutional;
(2)
a judgment or order lifting an injunction against the
enforcement of any one or more of the statutory provisions
specified in subsection (A).
(C) If the Attorney
General fails to apply for the relief described in subsection
(B) within the thirty-day period after an event described in
that subsection occurs, any county prosecutor may apply to the
appropriate state or federal court for such relief.
Section 44-41-630. The
General Assembly hereby finds, according to contemporary medical
research, all of the following:
(1)
As many as thirty percent of natural pregnancies end in
spontaneous miscarriage.
(2)
Fewer than five percent of all natural pregnancies end in
spontaneous miscarriage after detection of fetal cardiac
activity.
(3)
Over ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies survive the
first trimester if cardiac activity is detected in the
gestational sac.
(4)
Nearly ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies do not
survive the first trimester where cardiac activity is not
detected in the gestational sac.
(5)
Fetal heartbeat is a key medical predictor that an unborn
human individual will reach live birth.
(6)
Cardiac activity begins at a biologically identifiable
moment in time, normally when the fetal heart is formed in the
gestational sac.
(7)
The State of South Carolina has legitimate interests from
the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the
woman and the life of an unborn human individual who may be
born.
(8)
In order to make an informed choice about whether to
continue a pregnancy, a pregnant woman has a legitimate interest
in knowing the likelihood of the human fetus surviving to
full-term birth based upon the presence of cardiac activity.
Section 44-41-640. This article applies only to intrauterine pregnancies.
Section 44-41-650. If the pregnancy is at least eight weeks after fertilization, the abortion provider who is to perform or induce the abortion or an agent of the abortion provider, shall tell the woman that it may be possible to make the embryonic or fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear and ask the woman if she would like to hear the heartbeat. If the woman would like to hear the heartbeat, the abortion provider shall, using whichever method the physician and patient agree is best under the circumstance, make the embryonic or fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear." /
Amend the bill further, by striking SECTIONS 3 and 4 in their entirety.
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.