South Carolina H 4715: Prenatal Wrongful Death

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4715 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4715

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 AMENDING 
SECTION 15-51-10, RELATING TO CIVIL ACTIONS FOR A WRONGFUL ACT CAUSING DEATH, 
SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION CAN BE MAINTAINED FOR AN UNBORN 
CHILD AT ANY STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT AND TO PROVIDE THAT A VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 6, 
CHAPTER 41, TITLE 44 IS PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE ENTITLING A PARENT TO MAINTAIN A 
WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION ON BEHALF OF THEIR DECEASED UNBORN CHILD; BY AMENDING 
SECTION 15-51-20, RELATING TO THE BENEFICIARIES OF ACTION FOR WRONGFUL DEATH 
AND WHO MAY BRING AN ACTION, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE MOTHER, FATHER, OR BOTH 
THE MOTHER AND FATHER MAY BRING A WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION FOR A DECEASED UNBORN 
CHILD AND THE FATHER AND MOTHER SHALL BE THE ONLY BENEFICIARIES; AND BY 
AMENDING SECTION 15-51-42, RELATING TO THE APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENTS OF WRONGFUL 
DEATH OR SURVIVAL ACTIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE PARENT INITIATING THE 
WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION IS AUTHORIZED TO SETTLE THE ACTION.

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

SECTION 1. Section 15-51-10 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
15-51-10. (A) Whenever the death of a person, 
including an unborn child at any stage of development, shall be caused 
by the wrongful act, neglect or default of another and the act, neglect or 
default is such as would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party 
injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the 
person who would have been liable, if death had not ensued, shall be liable to 
an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured, 
although the death shall have been caused under such circumstances as make the 
killing in law a felony. In the event of the death of the wrongdoer, such 
cause of action shall survive against his personal representative.

 (B) An abortion performed or induced in 
violation of Article 6, Chapter 41, Title 44 is prima facie evidence entitling 
a parent to initiate an action pursuant to subsection (A).

SECTION 2. Section 15-51-20 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
15-51-20. (A) Every such action shall be for the benefit of the wife 
or husband and child or children of the person whose death shall have been so 
caused, and, if there be no such wife, husband, child or children, then for the 
benefit of the parent or parents, and if there be none such, then for the 
benefit of the heirs of the person whose death shall have been so caused. 
Every such action shall be brought by or in the name of the executor or 
administrator of such person.

 (B) Notwithstanding the provisions 
contained in subsection (A), every such action shall be for the benefit of the 
mother or father of an unborn child at any stage of development whose death 
shall have been so caused. Every such action shall be brought on behalf of the 
unborn child by his mother, father, or both the mother and father.

SECTION 3. Section 15-51-42 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
15-51-42. (A) Only a duly appointed 
personal representative, as defined in Section 62-1-201(30), shall have the 
authority to settle wrongful death or survival actions. In 
the case of an action for the wrongful death of an unborn child, the parent 
initiating the action has the authority to settle.

 (B)(1) If no action is pending, then the 
personal representative, or a parent in the case of an 
action for the wrongful death of an unborn child at any stage of development, 
shall petition either the probate or the circuit court of this State seeking 
approval of a proposed settlement. The petition must be verified by the 
personal representative, or parent in the case of an 
action for the wrongful death of an unborn child at any stage of development, 
and shall set forth, in terms satisfactory to the court in which the petition 
is filed, the basic facts surrounding the death of the decedent, the pertinent 
facts surrounding the liability of the alleged wrongdoer, the amount of 
insurance available to pay for damages, the terms of the proposed settlement, 
the statutory beneficiaries of the wrongful death or survival action, the heirs 
at law or appropriate devisees of the estate, the appropriate creditors, the 
amount of their claims, and, if the personal representative, or parent in the case of an action for the wrongful death of 
an unborn child at any stage of development, has retained legal counsel, 
then the terms and provisions of the agreement with 
respect to attorney's fees and costs.

 (2) It is not necessary that a 
personal representative, or parent in the case of an 
action for the wrongful death of an unborn child at any stage