South Carolina women who get abortions would be eligible for the death penalty under proposed bill
People rally outside the South Carolina State House as members of the state's House of Representatives prepare to vote on legislation related to an abortion ban on Aug. 30, 2022. - Tracy Glantz/The State/TNS

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Women who get an abortion in South Carolina could face the death penalty if a proposal at the State House becomes law. A bill called the South Carolina Pre-Natal Equal Protection Act would “afford equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization,” and reclassify any act that ends a pregnancy as “wilful prenatal homicide.” Under the bill, an abortion could be punished like any murder, leading to sentences of 30 years in prison up to the death penalty. The bill explicitly exempts from prosecution a woman who receives an abortion if “she was c...