In Whitner v. State, the South Carolina Supreme Court declares that viable fetuses are "children."

In 1992, Cornelia Whitner pled guilty for child neglect after her child was born with cocaine in their system. She eventually attempts to appeal this guilty plea due to a lack of assistance in finding adequate representation, but the court finds that she had an "effective assistance of counsel," thus creating a legal precedent that a "viable fetus is a person in the third trimester."

As a result, the court concludes that a pregnant woman who uses a drug or engages in any other behavior that might endanger the fetus can be prosecuted as a child abuser and sentenced to up to ten years in jail.