South Carolina bill would make it illegal to ask vaccine status, including fines of $14,000

A bill introduced by lawmakers this week aims to make it illegal for employers to ask for COVID-19 vaccination status in South Carolina.

Bill Sponsor Rep. Mike Burns said that the inoculation status falls under private medical information.

Burns also said that the unvaccinated are suffering because of employers' vaccine mandates.

"We have people in South Carolina that are losing their jobs because they have to report to their employer that they're unvaccinated," Burns told Fox News.

"We also have people who are having their insurance rates put in a different category. They're charging up to an extra $100 a week more than the vaccinated people. It is absolutely insane to do this kind of thing."

The bill would make vaccination status private, so that employers, businesses, nonprofits, and public entities are unable to ask someone's status.

"I'm your employer, and I asked you if you're pregnant, I can't do that," Burns said. "I can't ask you if you're thinking about getting pregnant. I can't ask you if you got STDs or HIV. I can't ask any of those private medical questions, but somehow it's alright to terminate people's employment because I didn't take this emergency-use-only vaccine. This is ridiculous."

Under the bill, asking someone's vaccination status would be considered a misdemeanor with fines of up to $14,000 or a year in jail.

The bill specifically makes it so that South Carolina employers cannot voluntarily put in place their own mandates, following the Supreme Court's decision to block a federal mandate on employers with over 100 employees.

Burns admits that the bill has little chance of becoming law, but said that action still needed to be taken.