2025-26 Legislative Advocacy
The LWVSC Board of Directors determines statewide legislative priorities grounded in the good governance issues that are at the heart of the League of Women Voters.
The League remains focused intensively on its Making Democracy Work (MDW) campaign: voting and elections, redistricting, and opposition to constitutional convention resolutions. The League, as always, will attempt to advocate on all bills falling within our areas of interest as defined in state and national policies. Follow our latest Making Democracy Work (MDW) Network Updates to organizations that share our interests.
Reference: LWVSC Human Rights & Human Services Positions/Issues
LWVSC Bills of Interest
Abortion Bans
H.3537, SC Prenatal Protection Act, Criminalizes Abortion Participation
This bill is yet another in a continuing effort to define a fertilized egg as a legal “person.” It would allow homicide charges, even the death penalty, for all those involved in abortion and abortion
care including pregnant persons.
care including pregnant persons.
H.4760, Abortion-Inducing Drugs to be classified as Schedule IV Substances
This bill aims to classify Mifepristone and Misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs. This category is intended to protect patients from drugs that can cause harm or addiction in those taking them - neither of which applies to Mifepristone or Misoprostol.
Extreme Abortion Ban S.323 Unborn Child Protection Act
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina opposes all provisions of S.323. The foundational principle of the bill is to designate every fertilized egg a person with full legal rights, a premise that we reject. A horrific array of dangerous provisions violate the moral and constitutional rights of all pregnant or potentially pregnant persons in South Carolina.
S.323 is not a protection for children, but the use of human gestation as an excuse to control those who are or can be pregnant, even those who plan their pregnancies but encounter difficulties. The South Carolina General Assembly has no moral right to inflict the dangerous wishes of an extreme minority on its citizens.
Total Abortion Ban H.3457
We ask that this subcommittee reject H.3457 that would ban abortion after fertilization except in medical emergencies threatening the death or substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant person. If H.3457 is adopted the prohibition on abortion would begin even earlier, at fertilization of an ovum by a sperm. There would be no right to privacy at all, no opportunity to exercise bodily autonomy. H.3457 also deletes current legal provisions giving pregnant children access to the courts to obtain permission for an abortion, even for incest or rape.
Health Care
Full practice authority for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs)
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina supports full practice authority for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN). Allowing nurse practitioners to provide the health care they are trained and licensed to give without being tied to a smaller and smaller pool of primary care physicians will expand quality access to care, reduce costs, and allow eligibility for federal rural hospital funds.
Instructional Materials Review/Book Removals
H.4123 Protection of Minors from Pornography and Obscenities Act
South Carolina already protects minor children from pornography and obscenities. This legislation is not needed because of the carefully thought out procedures already in place for selecting materials and provisions for parental notification and consent. In addition, this bill broadens the reason for banning materials or performances, allowing exclusion based on only a portion of a material or performance. It does not consider the merit of the work as a whole.
The League of Women Voters commends the Instructional Materials Review Committee and urges their continued extreme caution in making decisions about removing books from schools, thereby limiting access to information. The number of high school pregnancies was cited.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Prohibition
The League of Women Voters opposes H.3927 that would prohibit state departments and other institutions from promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. This bill would have an undesirable impact on recruitment and retention of not only state employees but also K-12 teachers and higher education employees. The bill also seeks to influence private businesses to exclude DEI from their hiring and management policies and practices. This has the potential for state and local entities to procure inferior products or services at a higher cost to taxpayers because the entity that best meets the product or service criteria may be excluded from the bidding process.
School Personnel
H.3196 Educator Assistance Act
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina supports the provisions of H.3196. This act would improve working conditions for teachers by requiring all districts to offer benefits that many districts offer now, such as sick leave banks and a minimum of two self-directed workdays that would allow teachers to prepare their classrooms and instructional plans at the beginning of the year.
The League supports this bill that would simplify the certificate renewal process, create a lifetime certification status and improve teacher working conditions.
Education Scholarship Accounts
The over-arching concern is that the General Assembly is constitutionally charged with the “maintenance and support of a system of free public schools open to all children in the State.” Any mechanism that directs public money to private and religious schools instead of strengthening options within our system of public schools is unlikely to meet with approval from the majority of voters.
S.62 -- K-12 Lottery Scholarships
Transgender Bans
Bill H.4756, Student Physical Privacy Act
This bill requires that everyone use only public school restrooms and changing facilities associated with the gender that they were assigned at birth; non-compliant public schools and universities would be penalized. We believe that this bill would create serious problems for transgender persons while not contributing to protecting the privacy and safety interests of the public.
S.240 South Carolina Parental Rights to Affirm Biological Sex in Child Welfare and Placement Act
This bill does not respect the rights of all parents. It offers legal protection only to those who reject their child’s wish to transition. We ask that you not forward this bill with a favorable recommendation.
Public Schools Operations
Charter School Accountability
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina has recognized the need for improved financial accountability for the charter schools in this state. This bill supports that objective.
3/20/2025 Senate Special Education Subcommittee Testimony: S.454
Mobile Panic Alert Systems in All Schools
The League supports H.3258.Mobile silent panic alarm systems have been credited with saving multiple lives and improving school safety
Pilot Program in Media Literacy and Critical Thinking
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina supports H.3264, which would establish a pilot program to identify effective instructional practices for developing media literacy and critical thinking.
