State would make abortion a death penalty crime

More than 20 Republican lawmakers in South Carolina have proposed a bill that would classify women who have had abortions as murderers and eligible for the death penalty by redefining life to include an unborn fetus.

The South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023 aims to redefine "person" to include "an unborn child at any state of development and to ensure that an unborn child who is a victim of assault is afforded equal protection under the assault laws of the state" and "to abolish abortion in this state as a legal act".

Abortion is legal in the state until 21 weeks and six days of a pregnancy.

The bill provides an exception for a pregnant woman who has had an abortion "because she was compelled to do so by the threat of imminent death or great bodily injury".

The bill was written by Representative Rob Harris, a registered nurse, and has 21 sponsors after two representatives withdrew their sponsorship.

US Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, drew attention to the bill on March 10 in the House of Representatives, calling it 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."

Some pro-life activists also oppose the bill.

"We oppose penalties for mothers, who are a second victim of a predatory abortion industry," Kristi Hamrick, the chief media and policy strategist for Students for Life of America, told the The Guardian newspaper in the UK. "We want to see a billion-dollar industry set up to profit by preying on women and the preborn held accountable. The pro-life movement as a whole has been very clear on this."

A spokesperson for Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America voiced the same view. The organization unequivocally rejects prosecution of the pregnant person, The Guardian reported.

In Texas, HB 2709 is proposed to amend the state laws to redefine "individual" to include "an unborn child at every stage of development from fertilization until birth" in the state's penal code.

Texas state Representative Bryan Slaton filed the bill to "close the final loopholes allowing abortion in Texas", according to his press release.

Seth Chandler, a law professor at the University of Houston, told Houston Public Media that if the bill were to pass, taking an abortion pill or providing one would be regarded under the law as committing capital murder, punishable by death in Texas.

"This is about as aggressive an anti-abortion bill as you can get," said Chandler. "It basically means you could get the death penalty for having a medication abortion."

Arkansas HB 1174 proposes that "all unborn children should be protected under the state homicide laws as all other persons" and allow "prosecution when a person causes the death of an unborn child".

Kentucky's proposed "Prenatal Equal Protection Act" aims to redefine "person" and "human being" to include an unborn child and "all preborn children should be protected with the same homicide laws protecting all other human persons".

News reports on South Carolina's bill have attracted more than 2,000 comments on Yahoo, with the vast majority condemning it.

Agencies contributed to this story.