Lawyers for South Carolina and Planned Parenthood are returning to the state’s highest court to argue how restrictive the state's abortion ban should be.

Justices expected to rule on lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood that contends the state's fetal heartbeat protection act's six-week limit is vague

Claims about religious conscience are nothing new in debates about reproduction in the United States. Employers cited it in refusing to include contraception in employee insurance plans; anti-abortion doctors relied on conscience when trying to establish standing in a case to shut down access to mifepristone.

The weighty issue of abortion restrictions was back before the S.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday, with one lawyer referring to it as a “hot-button political case.”

On Wednesday morning, the S.C. Supreme Court heard arguments in a challenge brought by Planned Parenthood against South Carolina’s “fetal heartbeat law.”

The Federal Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the fight over North Carolina’s Supreme Court race will remain in state court.