By WIS News 10 Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - WIS is hearing from both a current and former state lawmaker ahead of a hearing that could significantly reshape South Carolina’s abortion law and policies on reproductive health.

The South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee is set to hold a public hearing Wednesday concerning Senate Bill 323, otherwise known as the Unborn Child Protection Act.

WIS will sit down Monday with current state Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine and Lynn S. Teague from the League of Women Voters of South Carolina to talk about the debate over the bill. WIS will also air comments from former state Sen. Katrina Shealy recorded earlier Monday.

The bill is described by supporters as a measure to protect life. But opponents, including advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters and Women’s Rights & Empowerment Network, say it represents one of the most restrictive and extreme abortion bans in the nation—going so far as to criminalize abortion as homicide.