A South Carolina court has rejected Planned Parenthood’s challenge to the state’s “heartbeat” law.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic made a motion to move the legal cutoff mark for performing abortions from the current six weeks to nine weeks, which is when the organization says a baby’s heart is fully formed. Advocates of the heartbeat law argue the six-week benchmark is when the human heart begins to beat. 

In his decision, Richland County Judge Daniel Cobles wrote, “This court holds that it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the General Assembly intended, and the public understood, that the time frame of the act would begin around the six-week mark.”

Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC), who signed the heartbeat bill into law in 2023, celebrated the decision. 

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“South Carolina’s heartbeat law secured another legal victory yesterday, with the trial court denying Planned Parenthood’s preliminary injunction. Life will continue to be protected in South Carolina, and the governor will continue his fight to protect it,” Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for McMaster, said in a statement to Fox. 

Planned Parenthood performs approximately 41% of abortions in the United States. The number of abortions the organization has carried out has increased by 20% in the past decade.