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(CNN) -
The South Carolina House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that allows firing squads to carry out death sentences.
The potential change in South Carolina law comes as states across the United States have encountered barriers to executing those sentenced to death due to problems administering lethal injections, the widely preferred method in the country.
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Difficulties finding the necessary drugs have meant that executions in many states, including South Carolina, which has not had an execution since 2011, have essentially halted executions.
Lethal injection and electrocution are the two current options given to an inmate on death row in South Carolina, and in the event that the inmate has chosen lethal injection, the state has been unable to move forward with the execution.
A March 2019 photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state's power chair in Columbia.
The bill changes the default method of execution to electrocution if lethal injections cannot be given, and offers the inmate the alternative of dying in a firing squad.
Lethal injection will continue to be a used option if drugs are available.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said Wednesday that he intends to sign the law if the bill is approved by the state legislature.
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“We are one step closer to providing the families and loved ones of the victims with the justice and closure that the law owes them.
I will sign this legislation as soon as it reaches my desk, "he said in a statement.
House lawmakers approved the bill with a vote of 66-43.
The state Senate approved a similar version in March and must approve the House language before sending it to the governor.
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Opponents of the measure deplored the new methods of execution, as well as the use of the death penalty in general.
State Representative Justin Bamberg described the visceral nature of electrocution death on the floor of the House during the debate, laying out the step-by-step procedures during the execution process.
«You cannot be afraid of what reality is.
You cannot vote for electrocution and death and be afraid to face it in front of your own eyes, "he said.
“It is 2021. We should leave behind these barbaric forms of punishment that are more medieval than modern.
Today, our state has stepped back and I am ashamed, "House Democratic Leader Todd Rutherford said in a statement after the bill passed.
If signed into law, South Carolina would become the fourth state to allow death row inmates the option of death by firing squad, joining Oklahoma, Mississippi and Utah.
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