SC’s ‘Mothers and Preborns Act’ looks to change legal definition of fetus, issue brochures

FILE – South Carolina state house (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)

(WPDE) — On Wednesday, the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee voted to advance Senate Bill 717, also called the ‘Mothers and Preborns Act.’

The bill looks to create the office of ‘the healthy newborn ombudsman’ in the Department of Health and Human Services, which would share information about resources and programs available to pregnant women. The obudsman would be appointed by the director of public health.

A few of the responsibilities of the office include keeping records of all state programs for supporting pregnant parents and infants, refer parents to programs and services and require doctors to publish and distribute brochures about assistance and fetus development to a pregnant woman as early as possible in a pregnancy.

The bill states the materials must be objective, nonjudgmental and designed to convey only accurate scientific information.

It also changes existing legal language from embryo or fetus to “pre-born human,” which is something Senator Deon Tedder voiced concern about.

“How would you differentiate that from embryo or fetus, which is essentially a preborn, Sen. Tedder said.

“There’s all kind of gestational stages, so we’re just doing one, that includes all gestational stages,” Sen. Billy Garrett said.

“I caution any confusion that we sent to the medical professionals who are dealing with these situations,” Sen. Deon Tedder said.

Tedder said he plans to introduce an amendment reverting the language to embryo or fetus when the matter is taken up by the full committee.