Rep. McCravy proposes the following Amendment No. to H. 4568 (COUNCIL\VR\4568C017.CC.VR22):

Reference is to Printer's Date 03/30/22-H.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

/ SECTION __.Chapter 1, Title 1 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 5

Personhood Act of South Carolina

Section 1-1-310.This article may be cited as the 'Personhood Act of South Carolina'.

Section 1-1-320.The General Assembly finds as follows regarding the sanctity of life:

(A) The General Assembly acknowledges that the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence is one of the Organic Laws of the United States of America found in the United States Code.

(B) The General Assembly acknowledges that all persons are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

(C) The General Assembly acknowledges that personhood is God-given, as all men are created in the image of God.

(D)The General Assembly finds that the Preamble to the Constitution of the State of South Carolina contains the sovereign peoples' acknowledgment of God as the source of constitutional liberty, saying: 'We the people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the preservation and perpetuation of the same'.

(E) The General Assembly finds that a human being is a person at fertilization.

Section 1-1-330.(A) The right to life for each born and preborn human being vests at fertilization.

(B) The rights guaranteed by Section 3, Article I, of the Constitution of this State, that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law nor denied the equal protection of the laws, vest at fertilization for each born and preborn human being.

(C)A pregnant woman on whom an abortion is performed or induced in violation of this article may not be criminally prosecuted for violating any of the provisions of this article or for attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or acting complicitly in committing a violation of any of the provisions of the article and is not subject to a civil or criminal penalty based on the abortion being performed or induced in violation of any of the provisions of this article.

Section 1-1-340.(A) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit a licensed physician from performing a medical procedure or providing medical treatment designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant woman. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of the preborn human being in a manner consistent with accepted medical standards. Under such circumstances, the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the preborn human being is not a violation of this article. The threat of the death of a pregnant woman must not be based on a diagnosis or claim of a mental or emotional condition of the pregnant woman or a diagnosis or claim that the pregnant woman will purposefully engage in conduct that she intends to result in her death. The provisions of this section must not be construed to authorize the intentional killing of a preborn human being.

(B) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit contraception. As used in this subsection, 'contraception' is defined as the prevention of fertilization.

(C) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit in vitro fertilization or assisted reproductive technology. The authority to regulate in vitro fertilization and assisted reproductive technology procedures is reserved by the Legislature.

Section 1-1-350.This article is enacted pursuant to the power reserved to this State under the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution." /