South Carolina bill would make it illegal to ask someone’s vaccination status

A new law was proposed in the South Carolina Statehouse that would make it illegal to ask about vaccination status.

Under the proposed law, just asking someone if they are vaccinated would be considered a misdemeanor crime.

According to Fox Carolina, this “don’t ask” bill won’t let even your employer ask about your vaccination status. One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Representative William “Bill” Chumley, said, “The government has no place in making you or telling you to take the vaccination, or threatening your livelihood if you don’t.”

The House bill H.4848 is now heading to committee. The bill states that “…any representative of a public, private or nonprofit entity… who inquires about Covid-19 vaccination status… must be fined not more than $14,000 or imprisoned not more than one year.” Representative Chumley called the legislation a “freedom and job protection issue.”

Chumley told Fox Carolina, “South Carolina didn’t want to get in this fight. It was brought to us by the federal government. States have a right to impose certain laws if they want to, and to not impose others we feel are unconstitutional.”

However, not everyone sees it that way. Labor law attorney Jeremy Summerlin told Fox Carolina, “When you work it out practically, how it would play out in the real world, it’s insane. You put employers in an impossible position.”

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