2022 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 44 - Health
Chapter 41 - Abortions
Section 44-41-690. Exceptions to prevent death or serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function; written documentation required.
(A) Section 44-41-680 does not apply to a physician who performs a medical procedure that, by any reasonable medical judgment, is designed or intended to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent the serious risk of a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
(B) A physician who performs a medical procedure as described in subsection (A) shall declare, in a written document, that the medical procedure was necessary, by reasonable medical judgment, to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent the serious risk of a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. In the document, the physician shall specify the pregnant woman's medical condition that the medical procedure was asserted to address and the medical rationale for the physician's conclusion that the medical procedure was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent the serious risk of a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
(C) A physician who performs a medical procedure as described in subsection (A) shall place the written document required by subsection (B) in the pregnant woman's medical records. For at least seven years from the date the document is created, the physician shall maintain a copy of the document in his own records.
HISTORY: 2021 Act No. 1 (S.1), Section 3, eff February 18, 2021.
Validity
For the validity of this section, see Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Wilson, 26 F.4th 600 (4th Cir. February 22, 2022), vacated by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Wilson, 2022 WL 2900658 (4th Cir. July 21, 2022); see Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org., No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. _, 2022 WL 2276808 (U.S. June 24, 2022).
