MORNING NEWSBREAK | A bipartisan group of state legislators in South Carolina is advocating for bills that would enshrine protections for in vitro fertilization in state law after a ruling in Alabama determined frozen embryos have the same legal rights as children.
“What played out in Alabama can’t play out in South Carolina,” Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, told reporters Wednesday.
Bills were filed in the state House and Senate this week, with predominantly Democratic sponsors and some Republican support.
The House version of the bill would mandate that any fertilized human egg or human embryo outside the uterus could not be legally considered a child, while the Senate version takes a broader approach, preventing “undue burden” placed on access to reproductive technologies and stipulating that fertility clinics are not required to preserve sperm, eggs or embryos outside the human body.
In City Paper news today:
CP OPINION: The February surprise that didn’t happen. “In the GOP battle between Haley and Trump, it’s pretty easy to see there was no crossover voting influence of any significance. About the same number of primary voters went to the polls this year (755,000) as during the last competitive Republican presidential primary in 2016 where 740,000 voters cast ballots.”
CP CARTOON:
CP FOCUS: 10 contemporary Charleston building designs that hide in plain sight. Ten buildings across Charleston seem to fit in among the traditional structures that draw tourists and still pack the peninsula 250 years after the first English settlers arrived.
CP NEWS: Workers ready at Leatherman Terminal, ILA says. Area union dockworkers who are members of the International Longshoremen’s Association 1422 are prepared to operate the cranes at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal to reopen the port facility immediately in North Charleston, the president of the local union said.
In other recent headlines:
Mayor wants to see cruise ships docked away from Union Pier. Charleston Mayor William Cogswell wants to eliminate the cruise ship terminal at Union Pier, the 65-acre site facing the harbor in downtown Charleston that’s been slated for redevelopment.
Charleston hotel planned near City Market gets final OK from design board. The proposed 50-room Hotel Arcane at 40 N. Market St. is set to replace the Rainbow Market Shops across from the historic City Market, following a final review by the Board of Architectural Review.
Charleston Co. reaches compromise over tree-removal amendments. Charleston County Council unanimously passed controversial amendments that exempt Charleston County Public Works from existing tree-removal laws after months of division.
Charleston Co. teacher task force eyes raising wages. Charleston County’s teacher compensation task force is looking to bring starting salaries for a new teacher to $58,000 a year after the school board voted to increase teacher salaries back in June to $48,146.
Charleston Co. ambassador program to help drive voter education, registration. Charleston County election officials are launching a new volunteer-led program aimed at driving voter education and registration across the county to spread the word about the importance of voting in every election.
Lawsuit fails to stop Charleston Co. from using penny tax to expand I-526. The Coastal Conservation League sued Charleston County in 2019 alleging the county could not use penny tax funds to build the I-526 Mark Clark expansion and lost the suit, but in the process won another suit alleging the county failed to follow the Freedom of Information Act.
Kiawah Island thinks about next steps after proposed sale of Captain Sams Spit. The Town of Kiawah is continuing its fight to protect Captain Sams Spit, a sandy inlet that’s stirred a legal battle over development rights for years. The owners of the property have offered to sell the land to the state after an agreement with the town expired.
DHEC takes IOP seawall to court. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has filed a lawsuit against an Isle of Palms resident over a homemade seawall built to protect his property.
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