COLUMBIA, S.C. - Criminals who harm pregnant women could face charges for hurting the fetus under a bill that received key approval in the House on Wednesday.

Supporters of the bill say it gives the unborn the same protection under the law as people, but opponents say protecting fetuses from the moment of conception could threaten abortion rights.

"That's a red herring," said Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester. "This bill does not interfere with a woman's right to have an abortion under Roe v. Wade. U.S. constitutional law trumps state law every time."

The 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade upheld women's right to an abortion.

But President Bush's opposition to abortion and the aging of current justices has given anti-abortion activists new hope that Bush will appoint justices who will overturn the decision before the end of his second term.

Opponents say the bill lays the groundwork for barring legal abortions in South Carolina in the event that the landmark decision is overturned.

"The clear intent of this bill is that if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, there will be no right to an abortion in South Carolina under any circumstances - not rape, not incest, not to save the mother," said Rep. R. Thayers Rivers Jr., D-Ridgeland.

Rivers voted for the bill after members agreed to add an amendment that would allow rape victims to receive a "morning-after pill" to prevent pregnancy. Without the amendment and if Roe v. Wade is overturned, the state would essentially be forcing victims to have children by their rapists, Rivers said.

Rivers' amendment was the only one to the bill, which needs third reading before heading to the Senate.

Rep. Laurie Slade Funderburk, D-Camden, led efforts to amend the bill to add protections for mothers who choose to terminate pregnancy when their own lives are at stake. "In those situations, my question is whose right to life are we talking about," Funderburk said.