Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 44 > Chapter 41 > Article 3 - Woman's Right to Know

• Abortion: means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Beach renourishment: means the artificial establishment and periodic renourishment of a beach with sand that is compatible with the existing beach in a way so as to create a dry sand beach at all stages of the tide, as described in § 48-39-270, to include where considered appropriate and necessary by the office, groin construction and maintenance to extend the life of such projects. See South Carolina Code 48-40-20
• Clinic: shall mean any facility other than a hospital as defined in subsection (d) which has been licensed by the department, and which has also been certified by the department to be suitable for the performance of abortions. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Consent: means a signed and witnessed voluntary agreement to the performance of an abortion. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hospital: means those institutions licensed for hospital operation by the department in accordance with Article 3, Chapter 7 of this title and which have also been certified by the department to be suitable facilities for the performance of abortions. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• In loco parentis: means any person over the age of eighteen who has placed himself or herself in the position of a lawful parent by assuming obligations which are incidental to the parental relationship and has so served for a period of sixty days. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Medical emergency: means that condition which, on the basis of the physician's good faith judgment, so complicates a pregnancy as to necessitate an immediate abortion to avert the risk of her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function. See South Carolina Code 44-41-320
• Minor: means a female under the age of seventeen. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Office: means the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management of the Department of Health and Environment Control. See South Carolina Code 48-40-20
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Physician: means a person licensed to practice medicine in this State. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pregnant: means the human biological female reproductive condition of having a living unborn child within her body, whether or not she has reached the age of majority. See South Carolina Code 44-41-10
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust fund: means the South Carolina Beach Restoration and Improvement Trust Fund. See South Carolina Code 48-40-20