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South Carolina Governor Henry McMasterSean Rayford/Getty Images

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — South Carolina’s protections for babies once their heartbeats can be detected has reduced abortions by about 80 percent, according to the latest numbers from the state.

The heartbeat law officially went into effect in August 2023. The state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control has two reports for that year, one that includes January 1 through August 22, and one that runs from August 23 until the end of the year.

“The abortion restriction bans most abortions after about six weeks’ gestation, with exceptions for rape or incest up to 12 weeks, as well as for ‘fatal fetal anomalies’,” or when allegedly “necessary” for the mother’s health, LifeSiteNews previously reported.

There were 7,397 abortions between January 1 and August 22, which is about eight full months. This works out to 924 abortions per month. In contrast, there were 790 abortions between August 23 and December 31, which works out to about 198 abortions per month, or a 79% reduction.

READ: Iowa pregnancy center helps mother save unborn baby with abortion pill reversal program

Babies younger than six weeks do not have any legal protections. Pro-lifers, however, stress that life begins at conception and that direct abortion is never “medically necessary,” as numerous medical experts have also attested. Pro-lifers further emphasize that the conditions of conception do not determine someone’s worthiness for protection.

Nevertheless, rape, incest, and “medical emergencies” were rarely cited as reasons for abortions in South Carolina.

Fewer than five abortions were committed for rape or incest. “Medical emergency” and “fatal fetal anomaly” were also rarely cited, according to the report that covered August 23 until the end of the year.

South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who signed the bill, said the statistics are encouraging.

“Although the governor would prefer to see a day where no one seeks an abortion, the data proves that the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act has been a success, saving thousands of innocent lives and putting an end to South Carolina’s reputation as an abortion destination,” a spokesman for the governor told The Post and Courier.

READ: Baby girl abandoned in Florida safe haven box adopted by firefighter who rescued her

The decrease in reported abortions cannot fully capture other circumstances, such as women who traveled to other states for abortions. The reported abortions also don’t include self-induced, at-home abortions committed with abortion pills purchased online from out of state or out of the country.

Abortion drugs have become more widely available due to deregulation by the Biden administration, which has allowed them to be shipped across the country, in contradiction to longstanding federal law.

However, the effect that abortion drug availability has on undermining bans has been challenged by Professor Michael New, a well-respected social scientist at Catholic University of America.

Other states have seen similar success in reducing reported abortions after implementing restrictions.

Abortions dropped 98% in Indiana, as recently reported by LifeSiteNews. The state generally bans abortions, although there are exceptions for rape, incest, and alleged “health” issues.

Arkansas also reported zero abortions in 2023, in contrast to more than 3,000 committed in 2021, the last full year that abortion was legal in the state.

READ: Pro-life maternity home named after St. Gianna Molla offers young mothers daily Mass, material support

Abortion has been almost completely banned in the state since its trigger law went into effect after the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, as LifeSiteNews previously reported. The only exceptions are when allegedly “necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury.”

Approximately 89,000 babies have been saved since the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, according to a National Right to Life Committee report in February 2024. However, that number has grown as abortion restrictions continue to reduce the killing of preborn babies every month.

The report warned about ongoing challenges, as groups like Planned Parenthood, as well as government entities, set up abortion funds.

“The industry has made no secret of the fact that they invested a great deal of money and effort in setting up an extensive and expensive referral system,” the report states. “This is one where they made arrangements for vulnerable pregnant women from states with legal protections for unborn children to travel to clinics in neighboring or other states with abortion-supportive policies.”

“They may begin running out of money at some point, but early on, private abortion funds were spending tens of millions of dollars paying for or at least supplementing that travel or even helping to cover the costs of the abortion,” the report stated.

Chicago also set aside $500,000 in May 2022 to promote abortion, following the leaked Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe v. Wade. During the announcement, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot appeared confused about violence against a pro-life group, instead suggesting a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at an abortion facility. In reality, a violent pro-abortion extremist attacked a pro-life group’s offices.

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