The Latest: Lt Gov targets non-abortion services in budget

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on South Carolina Republicans’ opposition to Planned Parenthood (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant says no taxpayer dollars should go to Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider in South Carolina for any health care service, even if it’s to “provide vitamin C.”

Bryant warned Tuesday he won’t sign off on next year’s budget if one penny goes to an abortion provider.

None get direct state appropriations. The state’s Medicaid director has testified Planned Parenthood received a total of $300,000 over five years for non-abortion services such as cancer screenings and contraceptives.

Bryant doesn’t have veto authority. Bills approved by both chambers go to the governor’s desk after they’re signed by the leaders of the Senate and House. If the lieutenant governor doesn’t sign, Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman could.

Still, Bryant says it’s a matter of principle. The former state senator has been one of the Legislature’s staunchest abortion foes.

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10:45 a.m.

Gov. Henry McMaster is asking the board of South Carolina’s public health agency to reaffirm that it won’t send any federal grant money to abortion providers.

In a letter provided Tuesday to The Associated Press, McMaster asks the Department and Health and Environmental Control board to vote publicly that none of the pregnancy prevention money will go to Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider.

None does now.

But McMaster says he wants a public prohibition following a law President Donald Trump signed in April allowing states to deny certain federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

The measure overturned a regulation finalized at the end of the Obama administration that explicitly stops states from denying federal Title X family planning funds to clinics that also provide abortion services.