‘HUMAN PERSONHOOD AT CONCEPTION ACT’
H.5114 Introduced in SC House February 5, 2026
PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE: Thursday, February 12, 2026
FOR FURTHER INFO:
Contact, Steve Lefemine, exec.dir., Christians for Personhood
PO Box 12222, Columbia, South Carolina 29211; CP@spiritcom.net
Press Release posted at: http://christiansforpersonhood.com
[COLUMBIA, SC] The “Human Personhood at Conception Act” has been introduced in the South Carolina House of Representatives. At the present time, this House Bill ( H.5114 ), introduced on February 5 by Representative Luke Rankin, has five Republican co-sponsors in the 124-seat SC House, which presently has 88 Republicans and 36 Democrats. Principled pro-life, pro-personhood South Carolinians are asked to visit scstatehouse.gov, contact and ask their SC Representative, especially Republicans, to sign on as co-sponsors of H.5114 right away. The official SC Republican Party Platform asserts “unborn children … should be classified as legal persons” within The Right to Life plank (p.6).
Principled Personhood legislation was first introduced in the SC Legislature in 1998, and had been active every year through 2022 [ History of Personhood Legislation in South Carolina (1998-2022) ]. In 2005, a Personhood Act ( H.3213 ) passed the SC House, albeit with a fatal flaw “exception” amendment, before being killed in the SC Senate. In 2016, a Personhood Constitutional Amendment ( S.719 ) passed a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee in March, and passed the full Senate Judiciary Committee in April, before being defeated on the full Senate floor in a vote for Special Order on May 11, 2016 ( 24 Senators voted Yes for Special Order, 16 Senators voted No, and 2 Senators voted Present, however a 2/3 super-majority was required by SC Senate Rules, and so even though a majority of Senators voted Yes, the motion failed. ). In 2017-2018, a Personhood Act ( S.217 ) passed a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee in April 2017, and passed the full Senate Judiciary Committee in February 2018, and the Bill was placed on the SC Senate Calendar; the Senate adopted the Committee Amendment May 1, 2018, and then no further progress.
The “Human Personhood at Conception Act” effectively recognizes the Creator God-given, inherent, unalienable right to life of every human being as a legal “person” beginning at fertilization, in the South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 16 – CRIMES AND OFFENSES, CHAPTER 3 – OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON, ARTICLE 1 – Homicide. SC House Bill H.5114 states:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the “Human Personhood at Conception Act”.
SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:
(A) As used in this article, “person” or “persons” means every human being beginning at conception.
(B) As used in this article, “fertilization” means the fecundation of the ovum by the spermatozoon.
(C) As used in this article, “conception” means fertilization.
SECTION 3. Chapter 41, Title 44 of the S.C. Code is repealed.
Legal experts defending the constitutionality of States’ Personhood legislation in South Carolina (2001), and Mississippi (2009), and Alabama (2011), and Oklahoma (2012), even before Dobbs, are posted online here at ChristianLifeandLiberty.net. Go to Item #117 on the Personhood Act page.
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