S915 would create the office of the Secretary of Public Health and Policy to develop a “cohesive, coordinated, and comprehensive State Health Services Plan.”
S915 passed the Senate on February 21, 2024, by a vote of 44 to 1. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill would consolidate several state agencies into one and put a single person or ‘health czar’ in control of South Carolina’s public-health bureaucracy. In addition, the new office within the executive branch would have “emergency powers, in addition to its existing powers, over persons as necessary” to issue orders prescribing “restrictive measures,” such as mask mandates, quarantines, or vaccinations. Yet, “public health” is not the legitimate object of government, as an individual’s non-injurious personal health care decisions should be considered private matters not under federal, state, or local jurisdiction in the United States. Compelling every person to receive or pay for “preventive” medical treatment violates the fundamental rights of the people protected by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.