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| Established | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Founder | G. Steven Suits |
| 57-0968725 (EIN) | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization[1] |
| Headquarters | 1414 Lady St. #3304,Columbia |
Key people | Steve Pettit, President. |
| Revenue | $219,957[2] (2017) |
| Website | www |
Palmetto Family Council is a nonprofit public policy organization focused upon implementingconservative Christian ideas inSouth Carolina state law, especially concerningsexual morality. It opposes same-sex marriage, sex education, and vaccination againstsexually transmitted infection. It supports restrictions on abortion and pornography. It works to place symbols of Christianity into schools and civic institutions.[3] Similar national groups include theFamily Research Council, adomestic hate group.[4][5][6][7][8]
Palmetto Family Council has stated its goal is to "transform the culture in South Carolina by promoting the values and virtues of marriage, the traditional family model, and sexual purity."[9] South Carolina politicianTodd Rutherford described Palmetto Family Council as "a group whose mission is to fight against equal rights and equal treatment of others."[10]
Palmetto Family Council is aFamily Policy Council, meaning that it is aFocus on the Family state-level affiliate organization. Its headquarters are inColumbia near theSouth Carolina State House.
Palmetto Family Council president Oran Smith authoredSouth Carolina Amendment 1, a 2006 state constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.[10] The organization argued gay marriage should be illegal because of "evidence of dysfunction" in gay people.[11]Henry McMaster led Palmetto Family Council's campaign to persuade voters to prohibit gay marriage while he wasAttorney General of South Carolina.[12]
TheSouth Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound image in 2007. Palmetto Family Councilcanvassing was crucial in passing the bill, and in opposing any exception for victims of rape or incest.[13]
Supporters of the bill hoped an emotional experience upon seeing ultrasound pictures would cause women to change their minds about abortion. Other states require ultrasound images be made available, but the South Carolina House bill was alone in mandating that women must look at the pictures.[14]
Clemson University coachDabo Swinney was criticized by gay rights groups for planning to receive an award from Palmetto Family Council in 2015.[9] After which he declined to receive the award and the Palmetto Family Council defended itself from allegations it is a hate group for supporting bigotry and homophobia.[15] Even the council chairman Reese Boyd III stated that during the Swinney controversy critics characterized PFC as ahate group.[16]
Former Palmetto Family Council President, Dave Wilson Jr., resigned quietly on March 9, 2023[17] after being exposed for an extramarital relationship.[18][19] He was replaced by interim president Mitch Prosser, and then bySteve Pettit as a new president in 2024.[20]
