requires an abortion provider to offer a woman the opportunity to hear the conceptus's heartbeat before ending the pregnancy, and applies when the conceptus is at least eight weeks old. the bill took effect in november 2012. pennsylvania a fetal heartbeat bill (hb 2315) was introduced in the pennsylvania house of representatives on may 2, 2018, primarily sponsored by rep rick saccone. the bill was referred to the judiciary committee where it died. south carolina state representative john mccravy prefiled hb 3020 in the south carolina house of representatives in december 2018. the bill, which is entitled "fetal heartbeat protection from abortion act", was introduced on january 8, 2018, and referred to the house judiciary committee. previous attempts to pass fetal heartbeat bills in the south carolina general assembly had failed. the state senate voted 30–13 on january 27, 2021, to pass the new ban. the law had exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is at risk. the state's republican-controlled house had passed similar legislation in previous years. mcmaster signed the bill into law on february 18, 2021, but it was blocked by u.s. district court judge mary geiger lewis a mere day later following a lawsuit by planned parenthood and greenville women's clinic. in january 2023, the law was permanently overturned by the state supreme court. tennessee two fetal heartbeat bills were filed in the tennessee general assembly in 2019. on january 23, 2019, by rep. james "micah" van huss filed hb 77 in the tennessee house of representatives. on february 7, 2019, sen. mark pody filed sb 1236 in the tennessee senate. on february 20, 2019, hb 77 was passed out of a public health subcommittee and sent to the full committee. on february 26, 2019, the house public health committee voted 15–4 to send hb 77 to the house floor for a full vote. on february 7, 2019, hb 77 was passed out of the tennessee house by a vote of 66–21. texas a fetal heartbeat bill was previously introduced in texas by phil king on july 18, 2013, in the wake of rick perry signing texas senate bill 5 into law. the bill was not passed. the bill (hb 1500) is joint authored by representatives phil king, dan flynn, tan parker, and rick miller. as of february 26, 2019, hb 1500 had 57 sponsors or cosponsors of the 150 members of the texas house of representatives. former state senator wendy davis said hb 1500 is "the most dangerous i've ever seen." on march 11, 2021, state senator bryan hughes of mineola, texas, introduced a fetal heartbeat bill entitled the texas heartbeat bill (sb8) into the texas senate and state representative shelby slawson of stephenville, texas, introduced a companion bill (hb1515) into the state house. it includes an exception for medical emergencies but includes cases where a woman or girl has become pregnant by incest or rape. governor greg abbott asserts that the act will not force a woman who has been raped to carry a pregnancy to term because the state will "work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets." the sb8 version of the bill passed both chambers and was signed into law by texas governor abbott on may 19, 2021. it will take effect on september 1, 2021. rather than have the government enforce the law, private citizens will be allowed to sue the provider or anyone that helps the woman to get an abortion. although similar, h.b no 1515 is not to be confused with bill h.r 705, also known as the heartbeat protection act of 2021, which was introduced to congress on february 2, 2021, and sponsored by republican mike kelly. as both bill's note the criminalization of physician's performing abortions once a heartbeat is detected around the 6 week mark of a woman's pregnancy. the texas tribune wrote that "supporters of the bill hope this novel provision will trip up legal challenges to the legislation, as without state officials enforcing the ban, there will be nobody for pro-women's rights groups to sue". a key aspect in the enforcement of the hb 1515 bill is connected to the cost of being sued. as listed in the introductory act, if an organization or individual were found guilty of assisting in an abortion, each individual would be fined a minimum of $10,000. in contrast to the h.r 705, the hb 1515 only mentions punishment through the $10,000 fines, whereas if found guilty under h.r 705, physicians are not only subject to receiving a fine, but are also subject to prison time as well. according to some individuals associated with the support of hb 1515, the severity of the cost of being sued is intentional. john seago, an active legislative director for texas right to life, an anti-abortion organization, exemplifies this connection. seago notes that the cost of getting sued can act as an incentive for abortion providers to avoid administering abortions. according to the texas tribune, seago said, "have a public statement. put it on their website that they're not scheduling appointments after six weeks", in doing so individuals associated with performing abortion halt their practice, and are no longer at risk for conducting the fine. in june 2021, 18-year-old paxton smith, senior class valedictorian, delivered a high school graduation speech addressing the texas heartbeat bill rather than the one which had been pre-approved by her school saying, "i cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights." the speech went viral and was viewed by millions on youtube, tiktok, and twitter. the bill was temporarily blocked by district court judge robert l. pitman on october 6, 2021, but reinstated by an appeals court panel on october 8. west virginia two fetal heartbeat bills have been introduced in the west virginia house of delegates in 2019. on february 7, 2019, ralph rodighiero (d-logan) filed hb 2903 entitled "the fetal hearbeat act". on february 8, 2019, evan worrell (r-cabell) filed hb 2915. wyoming a fetal heartbeat bill, hb 97, was introduced in the wyoming house of representatives in january 2013 by representative kendell kroeker. in february 2013, the bill was struck down by a house committee in a 4–5 vote.