Department of Public Health

2025-2026 Bill 5737: Department of Public Health - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5737
STATUS INFORMATION
Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Morgan, Pace, Cromer, Frank, Kilmartin, Edgerton, Harris, Lastinger, Pedalino, D. Mitchell, McCravy, Magnuson, Yow, Huff, Oremus, Long, Beach, Hager, Chumley, Gilreath, Burns, White, Terribile, Duncan, Rankin, Vaughan, Gilliam, Bailey, Forrest, Gatch, Haddon, McCabe, Sanders and Willis
Document Path: LC-0534VR-VR26.docx
Introduced in the House on June 25, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Invitations and Memorial Resolutions
Summary: Department of Public Health
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

6/25/2026

House

Introduced

6/25/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Invitations and Memorial Resolutions

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
06/25/2026

A concurrent RESOLUTION

TO CALL UPON THE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO REMOVE THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND APPOINT IN THAT PERSON'S PLACE A
QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WHO IS FREE FROM CONFLICTING TIES TO RADICAL
POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS OR LOBBYING INTERESTS, WHO RESPECTS MEDICAL FREEDOM,
AND WHO WILL PLACE THE HEALTH, LIBERTY, AND WELL-BEING OF SOUTH CAROLINIANS
FIRST.

W
hereas, the South
Carolina Department of Public Health holds a position of significant public
trust and is charged with protecting the health and well-being of the citizens
of this State; and

W
hereas, the Director
of the Department of Public Health must exercise sound judgment, respect
constitutional liberties, maintain public confidence, and serve the people of
South Carolina without allegiance to political agendas, ideological pressure
groups, or lobbying interests; and

W
hereas, the people of
South Carolina deserve leadership at the Department of Public Health that is
guided by medical expertise, transparency, humility, accountability, and
respect for the rights of individuals, parents, families, physicians, and local
communities; and

W
hereas, public health
policy must never be used as a vehicle for coercion, political favoritism,
social experimentation, or the advancement of radical ideological causes that
are inconsistent with the values and freedoms of the people of South Carolina; and

W
hereas, recent years
have demonstrated the danger of governmental health agencies exceeding their
proper role through heavy-handed mandates, inadequate transparency, and
policies that too often placed bureaucratic preferences above individual
medical decision making; and

W
hereas, South
Carolinians have a fundamental interest in medical freedom, including the right
of individuals and families to make informed healthcare decisions in
consultation with trusted medical professionals, free from unnecessary
government coercion; and

W
hereas, the Director
of the Department of Public Health should be a qualified medical professional
whose record demonstrates respect for medical freedom, parental rights,
religious liberty, informed consent, and the constitutional limitations of
government authority; and

W
hereas, the state's
public health leadership must be independent of radical left-wing
organizations, partisan advocacy networks, and lobbying groups whose priorities
may conflict with the interests, values, and liberties of South Carolinians;
and

W
hereas, confidence in
public health institutions can only be restored when agency leaders are
accountable to the people, transparent in decision making, and committed to
serving South Carolina rather than outside political or lobbying interests; and

W
hereas, the South
Carolina General Assembly believes that the Governor should appoint leadership
at the Department of Public Health who will faithfully uphold the laws of this
State, respect the Constitution, defend medical freedom, and put South Carolina
citizens first. Now, therefore,

B
e it resolved by the House
of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

T
hat the members of the
South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, call upon the Governor of
the State of South Carolina to remove the acting Director of the South Carolina
Department of Public Health and appoint in that person's place a qualified
medical professional who is free from conflicting ties to radical political
organizations or lobbying interests, who respects medical freedom, and who will
place the health, liberty, and well-being of South Carolinians first.

B
e it further resolved
that the members of the South Carolina General Assembly call upon the Governor
to ensure that any future nominee or acting appointee for Director of the
Department of Public Health has a demonstrated record of supporting medical
freedom, respecting parental rights, protecting religious liberty, opposing
unnecessary government mandates, and placing the people of South Carolina above
outside political agendas.

B
e it further resolved
that the members of the South Carolina General Assembly urge the Governor to
select a leader who will restore public confidence in the Department of Public
Health by promoting transparency, accountability, constitutional government,
and respect for the dignity and freedom of every South Carolinian.

B
e it further resolved that
a copy of this resolution be presented to the Governor of the State of South
Carolina.

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This web page was last updated on June 25, 2026 at 6:09 PM