Senate subcommittee hears mixed testimony on SB54 Medical Informed Consent Act; adopts technical fix and carries bill over

Senate subcommittee chair Senator from Spartanburg opened testimony on S.B. 54, the Medical Informed Consent Act, describing the bill as an attempt to limit use of emergency powers and protect individual consent to medical treatments while preserving the state’s ability to respond to emergencies.

The bill would, among other changes, replace a statutory requirement that sheriffs and officers "must" aid the public-health director with a discretionary "may," add due-process language for involuntary isolation and quarantine, prohibit discrimination based on vaccination status, and restrict employers from making certain vaccines or medical products an employment condition. "Nobody... should have to choose between a jab and their job, and we're not gonna make them," the subcommittee chair said while introducing the measure.

Why it matters: supporters called SB54 a civil‑liberties protection after the COVID‑19 response; opponents said parts of the bill could reduce public‑health authorities' operational clarity and impede standard medical safeguards.

What witnesses said

Dr. Jonathan W. C. Brock, a private pediatrician, told the panel he came because he was "concerned about the mandate…