South Carolina H 4691: Medicaid

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4691 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4691

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
44-6-120 SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR AFFILIATED PROVIDERS 
DEEMED ABORTION CLINICS AS DEFINED BY LAW MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED QUALIFIED TO 
PROVIDE FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES; AND TO PROHIBIT THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT 
OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FROM DIRECTING MEDICAID FUNDS TO SUCH 
ORGANIZATIONS.

Whereas, the State of 
South Carolina has a strong culture and longstanding tradition of protecting 
and defending the life and liberty of unborn children, and recognizes that the 
availability of women's health and family planning services is important in providing 
for healthy families and children; and

Whereas, to that end, 
while the State Department of Health and Human Services ("DHHS") expends 
taxpayer dollars to pay for healthcare services, including family planning 
services, state policy clearly prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for abortion 
services, including abortion services provided by family planning service 
providers; and

Whereas, for example, in 
1995, the General Assembly enacted Section 43-5-1185, which prohibits the use 
of state funds appropriated for family planning to pay for an abortion and in 
2017, Governor Henry McMaster issued Executive Order 2017-15 directing DHHS to 
pursue all available methods and to take all necessary actions to exclude 
abortion clinics from receiving taxpayer funds for any purpose including, but 
not limited to, seeking any and all requisite waivers from the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services; and

Whereas, more recently, 
in 2018, Governor McMaster vetoed the family planning appropriation in DHHS's 
budget and issued Executive Order 2018-21 by which he directed DHHS "to deem 
abortion clinics, as identified by Section 44-41-75 of the South Carolina Code 
of Laws, as amended, and any affiliated physicians or professional medical 
practices, as identified by Executive Order 2017-15, that are enrolled in the 
Medicaid program as unqualified to provide family planning services and, 
therefore, to immediately terminate them upon due notice and deny any future 
such provider enrollment applications for the same," after which litigation 
ensued, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Medina v. Planned 
Parenthood of the South Atlantic, 606 U.S. __ (2025), which affirmed the right 
of the State of South Carolina to determine which organizations meet the 
qualifications to be a Medicaid provider, upholding Governor McMaster's 
Executive Order 2018-21 and thereby allowing the State to deem organizations 
that provide abortion services or their affiliated providers as unqualified. 
Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 6, Title 44 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
44-6-120. Any facility deemed an abortion clinic as defined by Section 
44-41-75, and any affiliated physicians or professional medical practices, must 
be deemed unqualified to provide family planning services as part of the South 
Carolina Medicaid program pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1396a(a)(23)(A). 
Accordingly, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services may not 
direct Medicaid funds for family planning services to any organizations 
providing abortion services, as these organizations are not qualified to 
participate in the South Carolina Medicaid program.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on December 17, 2025 at 01:53 PM