Appeals court upholds ruling blocking SC abortion law

By DENISE LAVOIE and MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court decision that temporarily blocks the enforcement of South Carolina’s fetal heartbeat law. The law would ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. South Carolina’s law requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for fetal cardiac activity. Once activity is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the law last year, but it was immediately challenged in a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood. In its ruling Tuesday, a 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lewis, who suspended the law on its second day in effect.