2021 Legislation
The first year of South Carolina's two-year session ended on May 13, 2021. The second year is set to begin on January 11, 2022.
(Updated May 2021)
Birth Control Access
These bills would ensure that birth control is accessible to South Carolinians by removing unnecessary barriers.
Equal Rights Amendment
These bills would ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ERA provides equal rights under the law regardless of sex.
Health Insurance Coverage
These bills ensure that, regardless of federal law, all health care is covered by insurance. If the ACA was overturned, services like mammograms, pap smears, pelvic exams, breast exams, contraception counseling, maternity and postpartum care, and more may no longer be covered by insurance providers. Additionally, preexisting conditions may become restricted by insurance companies.
Medicaid Expansion
South Carolina is currently one of only 13 states that have not expanded Medicaid. By doing so, we ensure that thousands of South Carolinians are able to access the health care that they need. These bills would expand Medicaid and grant more than 300,000 people access to health care.
Medical Provider Regulations
These bills would allow more medical professionals to provide care by expanding the type of care that they provide. Many rural counties in South Carolina do not have access to medical providers, and by expanding who can provide services, we can ensure that more South Carolinians have access to the care that they need.
Pay Equity
These bills would prohibit employers from paying employees different wages based on race, religion, sex, gender identity, and more.
Paid Leave
These bills would require employers to provide paid sick leave for employees for illness or the birth or adoption of a child. There are currently no laws in place, statewide or federal, that requires employers to provide paid time off for their employees. These laws would ensure that South Carolinians received access to the leave they need to take care of themselves and their families.
Period Equity
These bills aim to ensure period products (pads, tampons, menstrual cups) are accessible to all of those who need them. When we remove sales tax from period products, more people are able to access the products they need.
Sex Education
These bills require that public schools provide medically-accurate, comprehensive sex education. They also remove the emphasis on abstinence in sexual health education and increases the amount of information given about birth control.
Sexual Assault
These bills expand on existing laws protecting survivers of sexual assault. Bills include enacting a Sexual Assault Surviver's Bill of Rights, narrowing the definition of consent, and extending the statute of limitations for sexual assault or abuse.
Racial Justice
These bills increases the penalty for a person convicted of a crime against another person because of the victim's actual or perceived race, sex, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or physical or mental ability. South Carolina is one of only a few states that currently does not have a statewide law against hate crimes.
Abortion Bans
These bill aim to chip away access to safe, legal abortion. Many of these bills would ban abortion altogether, while others define "personhood" as a fertilized egg, None of these bills are based in medical science and are designed to punish people who have abortions and the medical professionals who provide them.
Anti-LGTBQ Regulations
These bills would blantantly discriminate against people in the LGBTQ community. Bills include banning trans teens from participating in public school sports on the team that aligns with their gender identity and would allow health care providers to refuse to provide care to patients for any religious reason.
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