COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Attorney General's Office released an opinion Wednesday morning concluding that the state's paid parental leave law does include parents who experience the tragedy of a stillbirth.

State Representative Neal Collins (R, Greenville & Pickens) had requested clarification of the state's statues covering paid parental leave after he understood that some teachers and state employees were being denied the benefit following a stillbirth, despite going through the same major medical event as parents who had children born alive.

The AG Office's opinion reads in part, “Based on the text of the law and longstanding South Carolina precedent recognizing unborn children as ‘persons,’ it is our view that the General Assembly intended for the term ‘birth’ to include stillb

See Full Page