Yesterday morning, the S.C. Supreme Court held oral arguments for the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act.
Assistant Deputy Solicitor General Thomas Hydrick and Attorney William Lambert presented arguments for the state. The state argued that unlike the 2021 Heartbeat Law (S.1), the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (S. 474) withstands constitutional challenge.
Attorney Catherine Humphreville presented arguments for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. She argued that the General Assembly ignored the January ruling. Humphreville stated that although they are two separate bills, the former (S.1) and new (S.474) Heartbeat Acts are “functionally equivalent,” so the court should rule to permanently enjoin S. 474.
Justice John Kittredge, who wrote a dissenting opinion in January, disagreed with Planned Parenthood’s attorney.
“We could never have a situation where a precedent of this court ties our hand indefinitely,” he said. “That would infringe upon the plenary authority of the General Assembly to make policy decisions for us to revisit.”
He emphasized this point with the example of three former egregious U.S. Supreme Court cases.
“If we went back in history and looked at Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Korematsu, gosh, don’t we wish those had been overruled before the sunset those days?” Judge Kittredge asked.
The Catholic Conference estimates that the state Supreme Court will issue a decision before the end of summer. Until then, please continue to pray for our justices that their hearts and minds may stand for the lives of the unborn and their mothers.
To watch the full video recording of the oral arguments, please click HERE.