By a vote of 30-11, the South Carolina Senate has tabled an amendment that would have banned nearly all forms of abortion.
Opponents of the so-called "Personhood Bill" sponsored by Republican Sen. Richard Cash, blasted it as "broad and sweeping" and said it could impact in-vitro fertilization as well as victims of rape and incest, The State reported.
Cash said his bill would protect the unborn at the time of fertilization, in effect outlawing abortion, because "the fundamental issue is an innocent human being is being killed."
In 2016, some 5,800 abortions were performed in the Palmetto State, with 22 being "dismemberment" procedures – in which doctors use surgical instruments to dismember and extract the fetus from the uterus, according to Cash.
The newspaper said some in the GOP-majority Senate had voiced concerns about the bill and those who voted to table it on Tuesday evening included Republicans as well as Democrats.
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