Fetus rights bill legal, McMaster says

A bill declaring life begins at fertilization would be constitutional but would not affect a woman's right to an abortion, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said Thursday.

The state's top prosecutor spoke to a House panel about the "Right to Life Act, which says rights in the state constitution "extend to each newly born and preborn human person." A similar bill passed the House in 2005, but died in the Senate.

"All this does is give the same vested rights to babies we have," said Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach.

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