The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled the state can keep banning abortions around six weeks after conception by agreeing with the earliest interpretation offered of when a heartbeat starts.

South Carolina can continue to enforce a ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The court sided with the state in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood challenging the 2023 “fetal heartbeat” law,

South Carolina’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ law in a Wednesday ruling. Justices ruled the state can continue to ban abortion starting at six weeks of gestation, when the current law states a ‘fetal heartbeat’ can begin to be detected.