Two state legislators opposed to an 8-year-old New Zion girl's petition to have the wooly mammoth declared the state's fossil have dropped their protests.
Olivia McConnell had written a letter to her elected officials calling for the animal to be the State Fossil. According to thestate.com, she gave three reasons in her writings to the legislature.
State Sens. Mike Fair, R-Greenvile, and Kevin Bryant, R-Anders, said earlier this week that they opposed such a measure if it didn't outline within any legislation sanctioning a state fossil that "God created the fossils."
Bryant also attempted to add two verses from the book of Genesis to the bill. Bryant is a self-described "born-again Christian." GreenvilleOnline.com reported that his amendment was ruled out-of-order, leading Fair to lodge an objection to the bill, which effectively killed it.
Fair is a self-described creationist who believes evolution shouldn't be taught in school science curriculums. He said he dropped his own objections after a colleague explained to him how much work Olivia put into urging the state to adopt the Columbia Mammouth as South Carolina's State Fossil.