We are three women from different corners of South Carolina and surrounding states, but we share the same mission: to change a law that’s actively blocking thousands of trained professionals—mostly women—from doing the work they love and providing for their families.

Right now, South Carolina classifies all tattooing from the neck up—including permanent makeup services like brows, lip blush, eyeliner, scar camouflage, vitiligo blending, and scalp micropigmentation—as a medical procedure. That means artists can’t legally offer these services unless they have a practicing physician in the room, supervising and directing the procedure in real time. Not a medical director on-call. Not someone reviewing protocols. An actual doctor in the room.

We are not nurses trying to perform illegal surgery. We are licensed cosmetic tattoo artists, trained in the most advanced techniques, and practicing an art form that’s safely regulated across nearly every other state, barring Oklahoma. But here in South Carolina, our careers are being treated like a public health risk—and we’re being forced to either break the law, leave the state, or give up on our work entirely.

This law doesn’t just affect artists. It impacts clients who want these services, mothers who need to bring in extra income, and small business owners who are ready to invest in their communities but are shut out by red tape rooted in outdated fear—not science.

If things don’t change, South Carolina will continue to fall behind—not just in industry innovation, but in job creation, economic opportunity, and basic fairness for working-class women. We’re talking about a field that offers flexible hours, high earning potential, and the ability to build a business with little overhead—all things that empower women, especially single moms and creatives trying to survive in an increasingly expensive world.

We’ve launched a bill to reclassify PMU as the skilled cosmetic service it is—not a medical procedure. We’ve built a coalition, we’ve gathered endorsements, and we’re ready to be heard. But we need your support to bring this into the spotlight.

Because this isn’t just about tattoo ink. It’s about freedom, opportunity, and the right to make a living doing what you’re trained and qualified to do—without having to stand in a doctor’s shadow just to do it.

Sign the petition. Share your voice. Help us push South Carolina into the future.

— Eden York, Kristen Osborne, and Natalia Jackson

On behalf of an entire industry of women ready to work, if only the law would let us.