S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster signed high-profile bills this week limiting gender care for minors and defining antisemitism under state law. He also vetoed bills that would expunge the criminal records of individuals convicted of certain gun, alcohol and fraudulent check offenses.
Saying it “protects our children,” McMaster signed H. 4619, dubbed the Help Not Harm Act by supporters, into law on May 21. The legislation bans what it defines as “irreversible” gender care treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries, for minors under the age of 18. It also excludes gender treatments from coverage under the state’s Medicaid program.
On May 24, McMaster joined legislators and citizens at a public signing ceremony for H. 4042, which formally adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as S.C. law. Defining the term as “a certain perception of Jews,” which can manifest as hatred, violence and certain types of rhetoric, the language has been adopted by 35 states, 91 cities and the US State Department. Despite this broad support, First Amendment groups of the left and right have raised concerns about its potential impact on free speech.
“South Carolina has long stood with Israel and with our Jewish community, which has a long proud history in our state,” McMaster said in a statement. “This bill signing sends a clear and unified message that South Carolina will continue to stand firm against antisemitism.”
In addition to the signings, McMaster, a former state attorney general, issued his first three vetoes of the year, all of which involved bills that would offer expungements of criminal records.
The first would have eliminated prior convictions for carrying handguns without a permit, which is now legal in the state. The second would have expunged the records of people convicted of selling alcohol to minors after completion of an education program. The third would have offered expungements to offenders who passed multiple bad checks 10 years after their last offense.
“The critical point,” McMaster wrote, regarding the gun-related expungements, “(is) that the actions were illegal at the time they were committed.”
The state legislature is expected to take up the governor’s vetoes when it returns for a special session in June.
In other recent headlines:
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How state lawmakers can save blue crabs. According to an editorial in The Post and Courier, “The human population increase along South Carolina’s coast and the stricter crabbing regulations in neighboring states have combined to put unprecedented stress on the population of blue crabs. That’s why we have urged state lawmakers to pass stricter rules for both commercial and recreational crabbers to give the crabs a better chance to bounce back.”
S.C. drunken drivers will have to use ignition locking device under new law. People who have previously refused a breathalyzer test or been convicted of driving under the influence will now have to install an ignition interlock device, which prevents the vehicle from starting if they’ve been drinking.
South Carolina can enforce abortion ban. State Circuit Judge Daniel Coble ruled recently that the state’s ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy can be enforced while courts consider an appeal to the law.
Law license suspended for Pendarvis. The S.C. Supreme Court has suspended the law license of state Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-Charleston, after he was accused by a client of forging a signature to reach a lawsuit settlement.
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