South Carolina H 4654: Former Rep. Larry Koon, sympathy

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4654 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4654

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 
16-15-260 SO AS TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF COERCION TO OBTAIN AN 
ABORTION; TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 15, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
16-15-260. (A) Coercion to obtain 
an abortion is the unlawful act of a person engaging in coercion with knowledge 
that a woman is pregnant and with the intent to compel the woman to obtain an 
abortion when the woman has expressed her desire to not obtain an abortion.

 (B)(1) A person who violates the 
provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, 
must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than 
one year, or both; or

 (2) 
If the person violating the provisions of subsection (A) is the father or the 
putative father of the pregnant woman's unborn child and, at the time of the 
violation, the person is eighteen years of age or older and the pregnant woman 
is a minor under the age of eighteen years of age, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor 
and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or 
imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

 (C) 
As used in this section:

 (1) 
"Abortion" means the same as defined in Section 44-41-610.

 (2) 
"Coercion" means any of the following:

 (a) 
threatening to harm or physically restrain an individual or the creation or 
execution of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause an individual to 
believe that failure to perform an act would result in financial harm to, or 
physical restraint of, an individual;

 (b) 
abusing or threatening abuse of the legal system, including threats of arrest 
or deportation without regard to whether the individual being threatened is 
subject to arrest or deportation under the laws of this State or the United 
States;

 (c) 
knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any 
actual or purported passport or other immigration document or any other actual 
or purported government identification document from an individual without 
regard to whether the documents are fraudulent or fraudulently obtained; or

 (d) 
facilitating or controlling an individual's access to a controlled substance, 
as defined in Section 44-53-110, and amendments thereto, other than for a 
legitimate medical purpose.

 (3) 
"Financial harm" means any of the following:

 (a) 
any loan, promissory note, or other credit instrument that provides for 
interest at a rate that is prohibited by state or federal law;

 (b) 
any employment contract or other agreement for the payment of wages that 
violates Chapter 10, Title 41;

 (c) 
blackmail as defined in Section 16-17-640; or

 (d) 
any other adverse financial consequence.

 (4) 
"Unborn child" means the same as defined in Section 44-41-610.

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

----XX----

This web page was last updated on December 17, 2025 at 02:11 PM