Josiah Magnuson (born August 17, 1991) is a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 38th district, serving since 2016.
[1][2] In 2019, during debate on a heartbeat bill, Nancy Mace, one of Magnuson's Republican colleagues in the South Carolina House, argued in favor of adding a rape and incest exception to the bill, and related her own experience of having been raped at age 16.
Magnuson later distributed a series of postcards to each desk in the House that stated in part, “It is a twisted logic that would kill the unborn child for the misdeed of the parent.”[3][4] In 2021 Magnuson was elected as the Secretary of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus.
[5] He also serves as 2nd Vice Chair of the House Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee, and is a member of the House Legislative Oversight Committee.
[6] In 2023, Magnuson was one of 21 Republican co-sponsors of the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023, which would make women who had abortions eligible for the death penalty.