Three states have started off 2021 by pushing ahead with pro-life legislation aimed at protecting unborn babies.

South Carolina recently passed a pro-life bill that could end up being used to target the Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling that invented abortion rights.

The state’s “Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The South Carolina Senate’s Medical Affairs Committee voted in favor of advancing the bill, and it’s likely to pass in the full state Senate.

The legislation requires a doctor to check for a fetal heartbeat, which usually becomes audible around the sixth week of gestation. If a heartbeat is detected and an abortion is performed, the doctor could face a $10,000 fine, two years in jail, or both, WIS News reports.

Exceptions include having an abortion because the mother’s life was at risk and if a pregnancy results from rape or incest.

Lt. Gov. Pam Evette (R-SC) was pleased that the pro-life bill was the first major topic to be debated on the Senate floor this session.

“If you believe like I do that this is about human life, what can be more important than this being the first that gets talked about in the new legislative season,” Evette said.

South Carolina isn’t the only state to step up in the fight for life.

Kentucky now requires abortion doctors to save the life of a baby if he or she is born alive during an abortion. 

Senate Bill 9 passed last week after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear refused to veto it.

There are no restrictions on abortion procedures in this new law. Rather, it forbids medical providers from depriving born-alive infants of nourishment and medical care after a failed abortion attempt, according to National Review. This includes when an infant “was born with a disability” or “is not wanted by the parent or guardian.” 

And South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) introduced legislation Monday to ban abortions based solely on a Down syndrome diagnosis. 

She tweeted Monday, “God created each of us and endowed all of us with the right to life. This is true for everyone. Even preborn babies. Even those with an extra chromosome.”

Noem said she anticipates the day when the Supreme Court “recognizes that all preborn children inherently possess this right to life, too.”

“Until that time comes, I am asking the South Dakota legislature to pass a law that bans the abortion of a preborn child, just because that child is diagnosed with Down syndrome,” she declared.