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.

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.

South Carolina justices closely questioned attorneys over whether a “heartbeat” ban prohibits abortions at six weeks’ gestation or whether it draws the line at nine weeks.