A S.C. House subcommittee approved two abortion bills today.

One, which the House has approved several times before, would expand the definition of a "person" and "child" in S.C. laws to include premature babies born, no matter what stage of development, and those who survive abortions.

The second bill would allow healthcare workers to refuse to perform work tasks that they object to on moral or religious grounds -- such as taking part in an abortion or dispensing emergency contraception -- without fear of getting fired or being disciplined. The bill was amended to also ban the health-care plan for state workers from covering elective abortions and to place new limits on private insurance policies that cover abortions.

To become law, the proposals must clear the full House Judiciary Committee, the S.C. House and Senate.

-- Gina Smith