2018 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
CHAPTER 3 - OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON
Section 16-3-1083. Death or injury of child in utero due to commission of violent crime.

(A)(1) A person who commits a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, that causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero at the time that the violent crime was committed, is guilty of a separate offense under this section.

(2)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the punishment for a separate offense, as provided for in subsection (A)(1), is the same as the punishment provided for that criminal offense had the death or bodily injury occurred to the unborn child's mother.

(b) Prosecution of an offense under this section does not require proof that:

(i) the person committing the violent offense had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or

(ii) the defendant intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child.

(c) If the person engaging in the violent offense intentionally killed or attempted to kill the unborn child, that person must, instead of being punished under subsection (A)(2)(a), be punished for murder or attempted murder.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or any other provision of law, the death penalty must not be imposed for an offense prosecuted under this section.

(B) Nothing in this section may be construed to permit the prosecution under this section:

(1) of a person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law;

(2) of a person for any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or

(3) of a woman with respect to her unborn child.

(C) As used in this section, the term "unborn child" means a child in utero, and the term "child in utero" or " child who is in utero" means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any state of development, who is carried in the womb.

(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to broaden or restrict any other rights currently existing for the child who is in utero.

HISTORY: 2006 Act No. 325, Section 2, eff June 2, 2006.

Editor's Note

2006 Act No. 325, Section 1, provides as follows:

"This act may be cited as the 'Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2006'."