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Lawsuit challenges South Carolina's transgender health care legislation

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Lawsuit challenges South Carolina's transgender health care legislation


COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – A legal challenge now faces a controversial new law in South Carolina.

H.4624, also known as the “Help Not Harm Act,” has already had significant impacts on gender-affirming care since Gov. Henry McMaster signed it into law in late May.

Now a group of transgender South Carolinians are suing to stop them from continuing.

“It’s definitely something that has just been this looming cloud, if you will, over the last three months,” said M. Greg Green, a transgender man who lives in the Midlands.

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The lawsuit was filed late Thursday in federal court in Charleston by three transgender South Carolina adults and two families of transgender teens.

In it, they argue the state law “has had and will continue to have devastating consequences for transgender individuals and their families in South Carolina” and claim it violates various federal laws.

Green isn’t among the plaintiffs and said he has not been impacted yet by the law but expects that could happen.

“Now having to figure out how am I going to maintain the medically necessary things that I need is very scary,” Green said.

Green is not alone in those fears.

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For several years, nearly $2 billion in South Carolina taxpayer money has sat, untouched, in...

“I’m a transgender man myself, and I haven’t lost care, but I wake up every morning, worried about it,” Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina, said.

The ACLU’s attorney are representing the plaintiffs, who are asking the court to block three key provisions in the law: a ban on minors from undergoing gender-transition procedures, including surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy; a prohibition on Medicaid from covering these procedures for anyone, minors and adults; and a ban on state dollars directly or indirectly going toward these procedures.

Because of the latter, the state-funded Medical University of South Carolina announced earlier this summer it would no longer provide gender-affirming care to patients of all ages.

While most of the law went into effect with the governor’s signature in May, the ban on gender-transition procedures for minors is not scheduled to take effect until next January.

In total, the ACLU estimates around 800 transgender South Carolinians have lost or will lose access to care.

(Source: MGN)

“On the one hand, 800 people is not insignificant,” Woodrum said. “On the other hand, we have a fairly small population that lawmakers are picking on with this mean-spirited, unconstitutional, political attack.”

MUSC is among the defendants named in the lawsuit, as is Attorney General Alan Wilson.

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The Attorney General’s Office said it does not comment on pending litigation but “will vigorously defend the state’s laws.”

McMaster defended the law he signed this year in a statement, saying he “will continue to support our State’s efforts to fight back against those who wish to force harmful gender transition procedures on our children.”

Earlier this year, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit — which includes South Carolina — found bans on government-sponsored insurance from covering transgender healthcare procedures in North Carolina and West Virginia were illegal.

The new South Carolina law also requires certain school staff notify parents about information concerning their child’s gender identity, like if they ask to use a pronoun that does not align with their sex.

But those school-related provisions are not being challenged in this lawsuit.

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South-Carolina

Gamecocks Freshman Cam Scott to Enter the Transfer Portal

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Gamecocks Freshman Cam Scott to Enter the Transfer Portal


The 2024-2025 season did not go as planned for the Gamecocks basketball team. While South Carolina is working to rebuild its roster they are set to lose talented freshman Cam Scott to the transfer portal.

The 6-foot-6 and 170 pound freshman wing out of Lexington, South Carolina joined the Gamecocks as the highest ranked recruit in the program’s 2024 class. Consensus four star and top 50 overall player, Scott was expected to help lead the team to new heights, now he’ll be looking for a new home.

Scott made 26 appearances on the court for South Carolina this past season. The young wing struggled offensively in his first y averaging 2.5 points per game, shooting 27 percent from the floor and 17 percent from three.

South Carolina was able to add one of the best overall players in the portal this week. Former North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff announced his commitment to the Gamecocks on Satruday. Eaglestaff is an offensive minded playmaker and could have been brought in to mitigate the loss of other players leaving Columbia.

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Scott will have three years of eligibility left. It is not apparent if there is a leader at this time.

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March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in women’s Final Four – WTOP News

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March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in women’s Final Four – WTOP News


Three No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. It’s the No. 2 seed…

Three No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. It’s the No. 2 seed favored to win the title in Tampa, Florida.

South Carolina reached its fifth straight Final Four with a 54-50 win over Duke. The Gamecocks will face fellow top seed Texas on Friday in their bid to become the first repeat NCAA champion since UConn’s run of four straight from 2013-16.

The tourney’s overall 1 seed, UCLA, knocked off LSU 72-65 to advance to its first women’s Final Four behind another big game by Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 All-American had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots despite sitting out the second quarter.

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The Bruins will face No. 2 seed UConn, which is BetMGM Sportsbook’s favorite to win it all. The Huskies advanced to the program’s record 24th Final Four with a 78-64 win over USC.

Games to watch

Texas (35-3) vs. South Carolina (34-3), Friday 7 p.m. Eastern. An all-SEC showdown and the teams are familiar with each other even though the Longhorns are new to the league this season. The teams split two regular-season meetings but the Gamecocks beat Texas for the SEC Tournament title by 17 points.

UConn (35-3) vs. UCLA (34-2), Friday 9 p.m. Eastern. UCLA will ride the play of Betts, who has been virtually unstoppable during the tournament. Paige Bueckers is pursuing her first national title after a storied career at UConn but the Huskies have standout players to help in Azzi Fudd and freshman Sarah Strong.

How can I watch the tournament?

Every game of the women’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule — on ESPN’s networks and streaming services with the championship game on ABC.

Who are the favorites?

The top four betting favorites going into the Final Four were (in order): UConn, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

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Who is playing?

There were 31 automatic bids that went to conference champions and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. Selection Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.

When are the games?

The Final Four is in Tampa on Friday on Friday night, with the championship game at 3 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. A year ago, the the title game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

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© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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Horrific mystery as wealthy all-American family are found dead in their stunning South Carolina mansion

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Horrific mystery as wealthy all-American family are found dead in their stunning South Carolina mansion


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Two parents and their nine-year-old daughter have mysteriously been found dead at their stunning South Carolina home.

The bodies of Richard Samarel, 54, his wife Lina, 45, and little Samantha were discovered on Friday morning.

Police from Spartansburg County Sheriff’s Office arrived at their Greer residence following a 911 call from a concerned neighbor.

Upon entering they discovered the three bodies inside the $783,000 five bed, six bathroom home and determined there was no threat to the public.

In a statement, police said that other residents of the home were in school at the time of the incident.

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No further information has been shared on how the three died and if the deaths were the result of a crime or some other circumstance. 

Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office did tell WYFF that they did not believe there was any threat to the public.

But they refused to say whether that meant they were investigating the deaths as an accident or murder-suicide. 

A social media profile for Lina Samarel indicate the couple also has a young son and another daughter, who have likely been orphaned by the terrible tragedy. 

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The bodies of Lina Samarel, 45, and her nine-year-old daughter Samantha were among three discovered at their South Carolina home on Friday morning

Richard Samarel, 54, was also found dead at the property after police entered the residence

Richard Samarel, 54, was also found dead at the property after police entered the residence

The family were found dead at their $780,000 Greer home after a concerned neighbor called the police

The family were found dead at their $780,000 Greer home after a concerned neighbor called the police

The family were identified by the coroner’s office which put their time of death between 10:20 am and 11:29 am Friday.

‘More information will be released at the appropriate time once both the Coroner’s Office and this agency can further their respective investigations of this incident,’ the police said in a statement.

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Richard Samarel’s Facebook profile indicates he is originally from Cream Ridge, New Jersey.

He previously worked as an equities manager at Bloomberg LP.

Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office deputies are pictured at the scene of the disturbing deaths

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies are pictured at the scene of the disturbing deaths 

 His wife is Colombian and said she used to work for the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

The high-flying couple married in December 2009, according to Richard’s Facebook profile.

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They lived in a 5,100 square foot home which was built in 2019, according to Zillow.

Family and friends regularly left glowing comments under the young family enjoying their lives and the social media profiles give no indication as to any trouble.  

The property is in Greer, a city nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains which combines historic buildings and small town charm with city living.

According to NextDoor, Greer has a significantly lower crime rate of 17.86 per 1000 people, compared to the national average 33.37 per 1000 people.

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