Our policy focus areas are determined by our member organizations’ experience of emerging and ongoing needs at the community level. SCCADVASA strives to make sure these needs are heard, understood, and acted upon by our state legislators and congressional delegation.

State Updates

The second regular session of the 126th South Carolina legislature convened on January 13, 2026.

What does this mean for bills that have been filed? This session is the second year of a two-year session, meaning that all bills filed in 2025 or 2026 must pass through both chambers and be signed by the Governor by the end of this session.

Bills that were filed in 2025 will be taken up from the point they reached before the end of session in 2025. For example, a bill that was passed by the House in 2025 will start this session in a Senate subcommittee. Bills that are not signed into law this year will have to be reintroduced, and their legislative journey will completely start over next year.

If you are looking to gain a better understanding of the legislative process and hear more about our 2026 priorities, we encourage you to view the “SC 2026 Legislative Policy Priorities and Strategies for Change” SCKnowMore webinar from January 16, 2026 featuring Sara Barber, Executive Director of SCCADVASA.

Important Dates

May 14, 2026: Sine Die or the day on which the legislature adjourns for this year. Only legislation expressly identified in the Sine Die Resolution can be considered or acted upon beyond this date. Bills have until Sine Die to be signed into law.

SCCADVASA monitors all legislation that potentially impacts victims/survivors and our member organizations, and we are currently tracking over 100 bills. The impacts of domestic and sexual violence reach far into the lives of survivors. The voices, needs and perspectives of survivors on policy making in every area of their life is critical to building safer homes and communities. We follow bills and engage with legislators on issues that range from specific bills that address the criminal legal and family court process to housing to education to reproductive care for victims/survivors and beyond.

SCCADVASA’s Legislative Priorities for 2026 include:

S. 143 (Devine, Zell, Hutto et. al) would extend eligibility for an Order of Protection to both teen and adult victims of dating violence. South Carolina is one of only 4 states that does not provide dating partners the ability to access the stronger and more immediate protections of domestic violence protective orders.

The importance of this change in definition of household member to increase availability of protection orders is supported by law enforcement data. Since 2017, SLED has reported on the intimate partner relationships in the following four crimes: homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and intimidation. In 2019, SLED also began tracking ex-boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. This data has consistently shown that 45 – 50% of these crimes are committed by individuals in a current or former dating relationship. In the 2024 report, SLED reported that 45% of the 59 intimate partner homicides in SC were committed by a current or former girlfriend or boyfriend.

S. 143 was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last year and currently remains on the calendar to be heard by the full Senate.

S. 702 (Goldfinch) would significantly reform the definitions of domestic violence to include harassment, stalking and elements of coercive control in both criminal and family court, which would increase interventions and protections for victims experiencing the wide range of harmful behaviors that characterize abusive relationships beyond physical violence. This bill would also expand the definition of household member to include current and former dating partners.

Coercive Control is a pattern of acts and behaviors that an abuser uses to control a victim’s life and can be just as devastating as physical violence, even though its impact is often invisible. The recent death by suicide of Mica Miller and the alleged abuse she experienced from her husband, J.P. Miller, has highlighted the importance of a broader understanding and response to all forms of domestic violence. J.P. Miller has been indicted on federal charges related to the alleged abuse of his wife, and an additional charge of lying to investigators.

H. 3537 (Harris, Magnuson, Chumley et. al) is an anti-abortion bill that seeks to define personhood as beginning at fertilization and would provide for the prosecution of murder charges against anyone who undergoes or provides an abortion. The definition of personhood included in this bill could potentially deny women access to some forms of emergency contraception.

According to the South Carolina Sexual Assault Protocol issued by the Office of the SC Attorney General, the “standard of care is to discuss [with] and offer emergency contraception” to a woman in the immediate aftermath of a violent sexual assault. The provisions of this bill could result in a fundamental change to the standard of care currently provided to victims of rape. Emergency contraception does not cause or result in an abortion. The purpose of emergency contraception is to prevent pregnancy, and if used within 5 days after an assault, it can be 81% to 99% effective depending on the timing and method chosen. Multiple recent polls indicate that emergency contraception is widely popular and that voters from across the political spectrum oppose efforts to restrict access to it and to equate emergency contraception with abortion.

H. 3537 was heard in subcommittee on Wednesday, January 14th with SCCADVASA submitting written testimony opposing this legislation. The bill did not receive a vote and will require another subcommittee meeting to move forward.

H. 3569 (M.M. Smith, Cobb-Hunter et.al) which created a status of protected tenant to afford victims of domestic violence the ability to terminate a lease early in specified circumstances remains on the Senate calendar.

H. 4714 (McCravey et.al) addresses the admissibility of battered spouse syndrome to provide rebuttable presumption that a defendant acted in self defense when there is a documented history of violence and a threat or act of violence against them within 24 hours of the alleged offense.

H. 3038 (Garvin et.al) addresses gaps in the response to survivors of sexual assault to encourage trauma-informed medical services and investigations.

Policy Proposals that may have negative consequences for survivors: SCCADVASA’s consideration of all proposed legislation involves looking at the intent of a bill, whether it is necessary or if current law is meeting the need and to think through any potential unintended consequences that will negatively impact survivor safety. Policy work, especially in polarized times, can be difficult to navigate without alienating people. Bills introduced with the best of intentions may, in practice, have devastating consequences for survivors. It is important to look beyond the title given to a bill to ask whether it is necessary, whether it can be implemented and what its impact on survivors will be. SCCADVASA works with many partners and communities, both statewide and nationally before taking a position, and we are always guided by what will make our communities safer for everyone.

For example, in Fall 2025, SCCADVASA opposed SC Senate Bill 323, legislation that would have denied women and girls access to emergency contraception following a violent sexual assault by a male perpetrator and subjected victims and victim advocates to extreme civil and criminal penalties for discussing emergency contraception and other critical health and safety needs.