South Carolina bill bans abortion after 20-week period

South Carolina's House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would ban most abortions after the 20-week period of pregnancy.

Not surprisingly, the conservative, Republican-dominated House voted 84 to 29 in favor of the bill.

Due to the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," doctors cannot perform an abortion after this mid-pregnancy period unless the mother's life is at risk.

The legislation now makes its way to the Senate where it awaits Republican Governor Nikki Haley's sign-off. South Carolina would become the 13th state to enact the ban, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit sexual health research organization.

Under the bill, South Carolina doctors are closely monitored. They must provide record to the state health department that they used ultrasound testing to determine the age of the fetus. Furthermore, if an abortion is done at 20 weeks or less, they must attempt to deliver the fetus alive.

Failure to abide by these rules would result in civil charges of "unprofessional conduct" and penalties of up to $10,000 and three years in prison, according to the bill.

Lawmakers insist the law is necessary to protect the fetus from feeling any pain.

"We had over 60 studies introduced to us in committee that (showed) they do feel pain. And the state has a right to step in and protect that child," Representative Wendy Nanney told Reuters.

It's no shock that Democrats are on the other side of the fence, criticizing the other party's stance.

"I find it ironic that in the middle of Women's History Month we are debating a bill that will severely limit a woman's right to make decisions that are rightly between her and her family and her physician," Democratic Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter quipped.

Similar measures and legislation are also pending in West Virginia and Mississippi.