South Carolina abortion law challenge backed by 20 states

By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

Twenty Democratic attorneys general have voiced their support for a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s new abortion law. The prosecutors argue in a brief filed in federal court Wednesday that the restrictive measure could harm their states by taxing resources if women cross borders to seek care. South Carolina’s law restricts abortion if a so-called “fetal heartbeat” is detected. Similar measures have been passed by many GOP-controlled states in recent years. The law is on hold pending the outcome of a Mississippi abortion measure before the Supreme Court. Medical experts say the cardiac activity is not an actual heartbeat but rather an initial flutter of electric activity within cells in an embryo.