South Carolina attorney general’s office says paid parental leave should extend to stillbirths

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — The South Carolina Attorney General’s office weighed in Wednesday on whether stillbirths should be covered by paid parental leave after several public school teachers claimed they were denied benefits.

State lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 that provided six weeks of paid leave to state employees who welcome a new child via birth, adoption, or fostering. The benefit was expanded to public teachers and school district employees the following year.

State Rep. Neal Collins (R-Pickens) requested an opinion from the attorney general in early August to clarify whether that law only applied to births where the child survives, which he argued it did not.

“At least two school districts are reading the paid parental leave statute to exclude mothers who suffer a stillbirth because it’s not a ‘birth,'” Collins wrote on X at the time. “I think this interpretation is statutorily incorrect and tone deaf to the intent of the General Assembly.”

The attorney general’s office agreed, writing in a nonbinding Sept. 3 order that because “birth” is not defined in the statutes as meaning born alive, the law should apply to stillbirths.

“While the question is a close one, based upon the foregoing authorities, it is our opinion that a court would likely conclude that South Carolina’s Paid Parent Leave statutes encompass stillbirths,” the opinion stated.

“We are of the view that, based upon the body of South Carolina case law concluding that an unborn fetus is a ‘person’ or ‘child,’ as well as recently enacted statutes banning abortions after approximately six weeks, it was the General Assembly’s intent to include any ‘birth’ — whether born alive or not,” it continued.

The opinion further notes that neither of the statutes directly mentions stillbirths, a specific exception that would have been written in if lawmakers wanted it.

The attorney general’s office did express, however, that clarification in the law may be needed to prevent any parent from experiencing a delay in receiving their benefits or from being denied.

“This clarification is especially important to ensure that parents who endure the heartbreak of stillbirth are not forced to fight for benefits they were already promised,” a news release from the attorney general’s office stated.

Collins said previously that he planned to file additional clarifying legislation when lawmakers return to Columbia in January.