Women Possibly Facing Death Penalty if South Carolina Passes Proposed Abortion Bill

Lawmakers are against killing pre-born children but are on board with giving women the death penalty.

South Carolina State House members are contemplating passing a bill for women who have an abortion to be persecuted with the death penalty.

According to Rolling Stone, if the bill, authored by Rep. Rob Harris, is passed, “the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023’ would amend the state’s code of laws, redefining ‘person’ to include a fertilized egg at the point of conception, affording that zygote ‘equal protection under the homicide laws of the state’ — up to and including the ultimate punishment: death.”

Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican representative of South Carolina in the U.S. House, believes the bill is a factor of a “deeply disturbing” trend.

“To see this debate go to the dark places, the dark edges, where it has gone on both sides of the aisle, has been deeply disturbing to me as a woman, as a female legislator, as a mom, and as a victim of rape. I was raped as a teenager at the age of 16,” Mace said. “This debate ought to be a bipartisan debate where we balance the rights of women and we balance the right to life. But we aren’t having that conversation here in D.C. We aren’t having that conversation at home. We aren’t having that conversation with fellow state lawmakers.”

“There are other bills with exceptions, but will do little or nothing to save the lives of pre-born children,” Harris said regarding victims of rape, listing exceptions that would include “a ‘duress’ defense for women who are pressured/threatened to have an abortion” and “medical care to save the mother’s life,” adding that “the functional language in that scenario is whether the baby’s life is forfeited ‘unintentionally’ or ‘intentionally.’”

To date, the bill has attracted 21 co-sponsors.

Legislators in South Carolina revived the electric chair and firing squads in 2021 as methods for inmates who have committed capital crimes to be put to death.

Currently, abortion is legal in South Carolina for up to 21 weeks and six days. However, a Greenville woman was previously arrested for using pills to end a pregnancy in 2021, violating the state law that deems it illegal to conduct a self-managed abortion.