Rep. MAGNUSON proposes the following Amendment No. to H.5150 as introduced by Ways & Means

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EXPLANATION: Repurpose DHEC COVID-19 advertising funds to be used for advertisement of pro-life issues.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 34, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, page 381, after line 6, by adding an appropriately numbered proviso to read:

/(DHEC: Pro-Life Advertising) Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Department shall assess the total amount planned, designated, or currently utilized to advertise for the Covid-19 pandemic, including any funds currently utilized to inform the public that there is a Covid-19 vaccination available or to encourage individuals to receive such a vaccination. This assessment shall be completed no less than 30 days from the effective date of this provision. All funds found to be so planned, designated, or currently utilized shall be redirected to advertise the fact that abortion is the taking of a human life and is an ongoing public health crisis in South Carolina. Within 60 days, the Department must develop an advertising strategy for this purpose, which must include information on why science demonstrates life begins at conception, the number of unborn children killed in the past year during the public health crisis of abortion, the fact that current state law on the books endeavors to protect all human beings beginning at their first heartbeat, and examples of how and where alternatives to abortion may be found in a crisis pregnancy. The Department must provide a report to the General Assembly on the implementation of this advertising strategy within 180 days of the effective date of this provision./

Amend totals and titles to conform.