S.C. Close to Passing Tougher Abortion Law

South Carolina is on the cusp of passing a bill prohibiting nearly all abortions past 19 weeks of pregnancy, making it the latest of 15 states to pass restrictive bans whose constitutionality has yet to be ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A compromise approved Tuesday by the Senate allows exceptions to the ban only if the mother's life is in jeopardy or the fetus can't survive outside the womb. That was crucial for passage in the Senate, where Democrats had blocked the legislation for years.

The measure's limited definition of "fetal anomaly" means it would be illegal to abort a fetus with a severe disability if the child could live.

"I can live with it," House Judiciary Chairman Greg Delleney, a Republican, said of the compromise worked out over the past year. He likened abortion at five months gestation and beyond to "infanticide."

The bill is among several fronts abortion rights supporters say make having the procedure tougher. Abortion opponents have also passed laws requiring clinics to get admitting privileges for doctors and banning a procedure commonly used in the second trimester, known as an evacuation method.