South Carolina H 3504: Pregnancy CARE Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3504 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3504

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 ENACTING THE 
"PREGNANCY CENTER AUTONOMY AND RIGHTS OF EXPRESSION (CARE) ACT" BY ADDING 
CHAPTER 141 TO TITLE 44 SO AS TO PROVIDE PREGNANCY CENTERS CERTAIN PROTECTIONS 
FROM GOVERNMENT REGULATION TO ENSURE THEIR ABILITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES 
CONSISTENT WITH THEIR LIFE-AFFIRMING OPERATING PRINCIPLES; TO CREATE A PRIVATE 
RIGHT OF ACTION FOR EQUITABLE RELIEF AND MONETARY DAMAGES FOR VIOLATION OF A 
PROVISION OF THE CHAPTER; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of 
Expression (CARE) Act."

SECTION 2. The 
General Assembly finds all of the following:

 (1) The 
life-affirming impact of pregnancy centers on the women, men, children, and the 
communities they serve is considerable and growing.

 (2) Pregnancy 
centers serve women in South Carolina and across the United States with 
integrity and compassion.

 (3) Pregnancy 
centers provide comprehensive care to women and men facing unexpected 
pregnancies, including resources to meet their physical, psychological, 
emotional, and spiritual needs.

 (4) Pregnancy 
centers offer women free, confidential, and compassionate services, which can 
include pregnancy tests, peer counseling, twenty-four-hour telephone hotlines, 
childbirth and parenting classes, referrals to community healthcare, adoption 
referrals, and other support services.

 (5) Many medical 
pregnancy centers offer ultrasounds and other medical services.

 (6) Pregnancy 
centers encourage women to make positive life choices by equipping them with 
complete and accurate information regarding their pregnancy options and the 
development of their unborn children.

 (7) Pregnancy 
centers provide important support and resources for women who choose childbirth 
over abortion.

SECTION 3. Title 44 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 141

Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression 
(CARE) Act

 Section 
44-141-10. As used in this chapter:

 (1)(a) "Abortion" means the act of using 
or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, 
or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a 
woman and for the purpose of ensuring the death of her unborn child. Such use, 
prescription, or means is not an "abortion" if done with the intent to:

 (i) 
save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child;

 (ii) 
remove a dead unborn child caused by miscarriage;

 (iii) 
remove an ectopic pregnancy; or

 (iv) 
perform a pre-viability separation procedure when such procedure is, in 
reasonable medical judgement, necessary to save or preserve the life of the 
pregnant woman.

 (b) 
For the purposes of this definition:

 (i) 
"Miscarriage" means a spontaneous loss of the unborn child.

 (ii) 
"Ectopic pregnancy" means the state of carrying an unborn child outside of the 
uterine cavity.

 (iii) 
"Pre-viability separation procedure" means a medical procedure performed by a 
physician to remove an unborn child from his or her mother's uterine cavity 
before that stage of fetal development when, in the reasonable medical 
judgement of the physician based on the particular facts of the case before him 
or her and in light of the most advanced medical technology and information 
available to him or her, there is a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival 
of the unborn child outside the body of his or her mother, with or without 
artificial support. The term does not include an "abortion" as defined in 
subitem (a).

 (2) 
"Abortion-inducing drug" means any medicine, drug, or any other substance 
prescribed or dispensed with the intent of terminating the clinically 
diagnosable pregnancy of a woman and for the purpose of ensuring the death of 
the unborn child, and includes the off-label use of drugs known to have 
abortion-inducing properties, which are prescribed specifically with the intent 
of causing an abortion. This definition does not apply to drugs that may be 
known to cause an abortion, but which are prescribed for other medical 
indications.

 (3) 
"Contraception" means the use of any natural or artificial means to prevent the 
fertilization of a human ovum.

 (4) 
"Pregnancy center" means a private nonprofit organization that promotes 
childbirth and alternatives to abortion and provides women, children, and 
families with resources, counseling, classes, referrals, and/or information 
related to pregnancy, childbearing, adoption, and parenting. A "medical 
pregnancy center" may also provide medical testing, counseling, and care 
related