S 540

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 540
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 AMENDING
SECTION 63-7-20, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT RAISING A CHILD
CONSISTENT WITH THE CHILD'S SEX DOES NOT CONSTITUTE CHILD ABUSE, NEGLECT, OR
HARM.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section
63-7-20(6) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
       (6)(A) "Child
abuse or neglect" or "harm" occurs when:
  (a)(1) the parent, guardian,
or other person responsible for the child's welfare:
  (i)(a) inflicts or allows to
be inflicted upon the child physical or mental injury or engages in acts or
omissions which present a substantial risk of physical or mental injury to the
child, including injuries sustained as a result of excessive corporal punishment,
but excluding corporal punishment or physical discipline which:
  (A)(i) is administered by a
parent or person in loco parentis;
  (B)(ii) is perpetrated for
the sole purpose of restraining or correcting the child;
  (C)(iii) is reasonable in
manner and moderate in degree;
  (D)(iv) has not brought about
permanent or lasting damage to the child;  and
  (E)(v) is not reckless or
grossly negligent behavior by the parents;
  (ii)(b) commits or allows to
be committed against the child a sexual offense as defined by the laws of this
State or engages in acts or omissions that present a substantial risk that a
sexual offense as defined in the laws of this State would be committed against
the child;
  (iii)(c) fails to supply the
child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or education as required under
Article 1 of Chapter 65 of Title 59, supervision appropriate to the child's age
and development, or health care though financially able to do so or offered financial
or other reasonable means to do so and the failure to do so has caused or
presents a substantial risk of causing physical or mental injury. However, a
child's absences from school may not be considered abuse or neglect unless the
school has made efforts to bring about the child's attendance, and those
efforts were unsuccessful because of the parents' refusal to cooperate. For the
purpose of this chapter "adequate health care" includes any medical or
nonmedical remedial health care permitted or authorized under state law;
  (iv)(d) abandons the child;
  (v)(e) encourages, condones,
or approves the commission of delinquent acts by the child including, but not
limited to, sexual trafficking or exploitation, and the commission of the acts
are shown to be the result of the encouragement, condonation, or approval;
  (vi)(f) commits or allows to
be committed against the child female genital mutilation as defined in Section
16-3-2210 or engages in acts or omissions that present a substantial risk that
the crime of female genital mutilation would be committed against the child;
or
  (vii)(g) has committed abuse
or neglect as described in subsubitems (i) through (vi) such that a child who
subsequently becomes part of the person's household is at substantial risk of
one of those forms of abuse or neglect;  or
  (b)(2) a child is a victim of
trafficking in persons as defined in Section 16-3-2010, including sex
trafficking, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a parent, guardian, or
other person responsible for the child's welfare. Identifying a child as a
victim of trafficking in persons does not create a presumption that the parent,
guardian, or other individual responsible for the child's welfare abused,
neglected, or harmed the child.
       (B) "Child abuse or
neglect" or "harm" shall not be interpreted or construed to
allow an adverse action against the parent, guardian, or other person
responsible for the child's welfare who:
  (1) guides,
instructs, or raises a child, or intends to guide, instruct, or raise a child,
consistent with the child's sex;
  (2) seeks out and
consents to any lawful mental healthcare service for a child to assist the
child in living consistent with the child's sex; or
  (3) declines to
consent to any physical or mental healthcare service for a child for the
purpose of gender transition as defined in Section 44-42-310.
SECTION 2.  Section 63-15-240 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
63-15-240. (A) In issuing or
modifying an order for custody affecting the rights and responsibilities of the
parents, the order may include, but is not limited to:
       (1)
the approval of a parenting plan;
       (2)
the award of sole custody to one parent with appropriate parenting time for the
noncustodial parent;
       (3)
the award of joint custody, in which case the order must include:
  (a)
residential arrangements with each parent in accordance with the needs of each
child;  and
  (b)
how consultations and communications between the parents will take place,
generally and specifically, with regard to major decisions concerning the
child's health, medical and dental care, education, extracurricular activities,
and religious training;
       (4)
other custody arrangements as the court may determine to be in the best
interest of the child.
    (B)
In issuing or modifying a custody order, the court must consider the best
interest of the child, which may include, but is not limited to:
       (1)
the temperament and developmental needs of the child;
       (2)
the capacity and the disposition of the parents to understand and meet the
needs of the child;
       (3)
the preferences of each child;
       (4)
the wishes of the parents as to custody;
       (5)
the past and current interaction and relationship of the child with each
parent, the child's siblings, and any other person, including a grandparent,
who may significantly affect the best interest of the child;
       (6)
the actions of each parent to encourage the continuing parent-child
relationship between the child and the other parent, as is appropriate,
including compliance with court orders;
       (7)
the manipulation by or coercive behavior of the parents in an effort to involve
the child in the parents' dispute;
       (8)
any effort by one parent to disparage the other parent in front of the child;
       (9)
the ability of each parent to be actively involved in the life of the child;
       (10)
the child's adjustment to his or her home, school, and community environments;
       (11)
the stability of the child's existing and proposed residences;
       (12)
the mental and physical health of all individuals involved, except that a
disability of a proposed custodial parent or other party, in and of itself,
must not be determinative of custody unless the proposed custodial arrangement
is not in the best interest of the child;
       (13)
the child's cultural and spiritual background;
       (14)
whether the child or a sibling of the child has been abused or neglected;
       (15)
whether one parent has perpetrated domestic violence or child abuse or the
effect on the child of the actions of an abuser if any domestic violence has
occurred between the parents or between a parent and another individual or
between the parent and the child;
       (16)
whether one parent has relocated more than one hundred miles from the child's
primary residence in the past year, unless the parent relocated for safety
reasons;  and
       (17)
other factors as the court considers necessary.
    (C) In issuing or modifying a custody
order, a court shall not consider the following actions by a parent to be
contrary to the best interests of the child's safety, health and welfare:
       (1) guiding, instructing, or raising a
child, or intending to guide, instruct, or raise a child, consistent with the
child's sex;
       (2) seeking out and consenting to any
lawful mental healthcare service for a child to assist the child in living
consistent with the child's sex; or
       (3) declining to consent to any
physical or mental healthcare service for a child for the purpose of gender
transition as defined in Section 44-42-310.
SECTION 3.  Chapter 9, Title 63 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:
Article 12
Protections for Adoption Agencies and Foster Care
Providers and Adoptive and Foster Parents
    Section
63-9-2310. As used in this chapter:
       (A)
"State government" means:
  (1)
the State or a political subdivision of the State;
  (2)
any agency of the State or of a political subdivision of the State, including a
department, bureau, board, commission, council, or court;
  (3)
any city, county, urban-county government, charter county government, unified
local government, consolidated local government, special district, or any
combination thereof;
  (4)
any person acting under color of state law; and
  (5)
any private person suing under or attempting to enforce a law, rule, or
regulation adopted by the State or a political subdivision of the State.
       (B)
"Religious organization" means:
  (1)
a house of worship, including, but not limited to, churches, synagogues,
shrines, mosques, and temples;
  (2)
a religious group, corporation, association, school or educational institution,
ministry, order, society, or similar entity, regardless of whether it is
integrated or affiliated with a church or other house of worship; and
  (3)
an officer, owner, employee, manager, religious leader, clergy, or minister of
an entity or organization described in this subsection.
       (C)
"Adoption or foster care" means social services provided to or on behalf of
children, including:
  (1)
promoting foster parenting;
  (2)
providing foster homes, residential care, group homes, or temporary group
shelters for children;
  (3)
recruiting foster parents;
  (4)
placing children in foster homes;
  (5)
licensing or certifying foster homes;
  (6)
promoting adoption or recruiting adoptive parents;
  (7)
assisting adoptions or supporting adoptive families;
  (8)
performing or assisting home studies;
  (9)
assisting kinship guardianships or kinship caregivers;
  (10)
providing family preservation services;
  (11)
providing family support services; and
  (12)
providing temporary family reunification services.
    Section
63-9-2320. (A) The State government
shall not take any discriminatory action against a person that advertises,
provides, or facilitates adoption or foster care, wholly or partially on the
basis that the person has provided or declined to provide any adoption or
foster-care service, or related service, based upon or in a manner consistent
with a sincerely held religious belief.
    (B)(1) The State government shall not
take any discriminatory action against a person to whom the State grants
custody of a foster or adoptive child, or who seeks from the State custody of a
foster or adoptive child, wholly or partially on the basis that the person:
  (a)
guides, instructs, or raises a child, or intends to guide, instruct, or raise a
child, based upon or in a manner consistent with a sincerely held religious
belief;
  (b)
guides, instructs, or raises a child, or intends to guide, instruct, or raise a
child, consistent with the child's sex;
  (c)
seeks out and consents to any lawful mental healthcare service for a child to
assist the child in living consistent with the child's sex; or
  (d)
declines to consent to any physical or mental healthcare service for a child
for the purpose of gender transition as defined in Section 44-42-310.
       (2)
The State may consider whether a person shares the same religion or faith
tradition as a foster or adoptive child when considering placement of the child
in order to prioritize placement with a person of the same religion or faith
tradition.
    (C)
The State government shall consider accredited, licensed, or certified any
person that would otherwise be accredited, licensed, or certified,
respectively, for any purposes under state law but for a determination against
such person on the basis that the person believes, maintains policies and
procedures, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief.
    (D) The
State shall consider any person for a contract, grant, or agreement who would
otherwise be considered for a contract, grant, or agreement but for a
determination against such person on the basis that the person maintains
policies and procedures, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious
belief.
    Section
63-9-2330. (A) A person may assert
a violation of this chapter as a claim against the State in any judicial or
administrative proceeding or as a defense in any judicial or administrative
proceeding without regard to whether the proceeding is brought by or in the
name of the State, any private person, or any other party. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, an action under this act may be commenced, and relief
may be granted, without regard to whether the person commencing the action has
sought or exhausted available administrative remedies.
    (B)
Any person who successfully asserts a claim or defense under this act may
recover declaratory relief; injunctive relief to prevent or remedy a violation
of this act or the effects of such a violation; compensatory damages;
reasonable attorneys' fees and costs; and any other appropriate relief.
SECTION 4.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on April 03, 2025 at 11:37 AM