Since he took office more than four years ago, Gov. McMaster of South Carolina made it one of his top priorities to sign a bill banning most abortions in the state.

Immediately following the signing of the bill, Planned Parenthood sued preventing the measure from taking effect citing previous challenges to abortion bans in other states.

WIS News reports:

Attorney General Alan Wilson quickly issued a statement saying he’s ready for a court battle.

“My office will vigorously defend this law in court because there is nothing more important than protecting life,” he said.

The state House approved the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” on a 79-35 vote Wednesday and gave it a final procedural vote Thursday before sending it to McMaster.

“There’s a lot of happy hearts beating across South Carolina right now,” McMaster said during a signing ceremony at the statehouse attended by lawmakers who made the bill a reality.

The bill requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for a heartbeat in the fetus. If one is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, if there is a fetal anomaly, or if the mother’s life is in danger.

Under the new law a pregnant woman would not be charged if she were to get an illegal abortion, but felony charges could be brought against the person who performed the abortion as well as sentenced up to two years and fined $10,000 if found guilty.

Currently abortion is allowed under federal law which takes precedence over state law, and other states who have tried their own form of an abortion bill are tied up in court.

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