2020 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 3 - Offenses Against The Person
Section 16-3-2210. Definitions.
For purposes of this article:
(1) "Facilitate" means to raise, solicit, collect, or provide material support or resources with intent that such will be used, in whole or in part, to plan, prepare, carry out, or aid in any act of female genital mutilation or hindering the prosecution of an act of female genital mutilation, or the concealment of an act of female genital mutilation.
(2) "Female genital mutilation" or "mutilation" means:
(a) the partial or total removal of the clitoris, prepuce, or labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora; or
(b) the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal formed by cutting and repositioning the inner or outer labia, with or without the removal of the clitoris.
(3) "Health care professional" means an individual who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this State to provide health care to members of the public.
(4) "Hindering the prosecution of female genital mutilation" means actions to include, but not be limited to:
(a) harboring or concealing a person who is known or believed to be planning to commit an act of female genital mutilation;
(b) warning a person who is known or believed to be planning to commit an act of female genital mutilation of impending discovery or apprehension; or
(c) suppressing any physical evidence that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of a person who is known or believed to be planning to commit an act of female genital mutilation.
(5) "Material support or resources" means currency or other financial securities, financial services, instruments of value, lodging, training, false documentation or identification, medical equipment, computer equipment, software, facilities, personnel, transportation, or other physical assets.
(6) "Mutilate" means to commit female genital mutilation or mutilation.
(7) "Unable to consent" means unable to appreciate the nature and implications of the patient's condition and proposed health care, to make a reasoned decision concerning the proposed health care, or to communicate that decision in an unambiguous manner. A patient's inability to consent must be certified by two licensed physicians, each of whom has examined the patient. However, in an emergency the patient's inability to consent may be certified by a health care professional responsible for the care of the patient if the health care professional states in writing in the patient's record that the delay occasioned by obtaining certification from two licensed physicians would be detrimental to the patient's health. A certifying physician or other health care professional shall give an opinion regarding the cause and nature of the inability to consent, its extent, and its probable duration. If a patient unable to consent is being admitted to hospice care pursuant to a physician certification of a terminal illness required by Medicare, that certification meets the certification requirements of this item.
HISTORY: 2019 Act No. 71 (H.3973), Section 1, eff May 16, 2019.
