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The bill pushes the doctrine of “fetal personhood,” and makes religious references to “God’s image” within its text.

The South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act, which was introduced originally in 2023 but dropped from consideration in early 2024, has been refiled by state Rep. Rob Harris ®. The bill has seven other Republican co-sponsors, and is set to be considered by the state House Judiciary Committee early next year.

The bill defines fetuses and embryos at any stage of pregnancy as legal persons, thus defining any type of abortion — including those that happen before the state’s six-week abortion ban — as homicide, effectively creating a total abortion ban. Although the legislation’s language makes exceptions for cases where a person’s life is endangered due to their pregnancy or a miscarriage, critics of the original bill noted that the proposal requires a person to prove their own innocence in such cases, meaning that even those who meet the exception criteria could be subjected to criminal punishment.

Notably, exceptions for miscarriages or to save the life of a pregnant person are rarely granted, as these kinds of laws generally have ambiguous language regarding exceptions, leaving health professionals unsure of when a situation qualifies. The latest iteration of this bill’s life exception also requires “reasonable steps” to be taken before a life-saving abortion can occur, likely resulting in lengthier delays to such care, including in cases where immediate action is necessary to save a person’s life.

The authors of the legislation make no effort to hide their far right religious agenda, referring to life as being “created in the image of God” in the text of the bill in an attempt to justify its passage.

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