North Carolina legislature advances 12 week abortion ban News
Janni Rye, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
North Carolina legislature advances 12 week abortion ban

The North Carolina House of Representatives voted 115-4 to advance HB 190 on Tuesday, which would ban most abortions after 12 weeks. The bill will now go to Governor Roy Cooper for approval or veto.

The bill is largely an administrative bill that affects the Department of Health and Human Services with abortion language at the end of the bill. Under the bill’s new language, it shall be unlawful to “procure or cause a miscarriage or abortion” after 12 weeks of pregnancy in most cases. The law provides exceptions for “medical emergencies.” North Carolina law defines medical emergencies as:

A condition which, in reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of the pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including any psychological or emotional conditions. For purposes of this definition, no condition shall be deemed a medical emergency if based on a claim or diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct which would result in her death or in substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.

Additionally, the bill mandates that physicians prescribing or administering abortion-inducing drugs must verify the probable gestational age of the unborn child and document this information. The bill also requires physicians to examine the woman in person before prescribing or administering the drugs.

Cooper has already vetoed a proposed bill that would have banned most abortions after 12 weeks and medication abortions after ten weeks. If vetoed, the bill returns to the North Carolina General Assembly where the bill originated. Under Article II Section 22 of the North Carolina Constitution, both chambers of the legislature can reconsider the bill. If both chambers approve the bill with a three-fifths majority, then the bill becomes law.

Earlier this month, the Republican-majority North Carolina Senate passed a bill prohibiting state and pension plan fiduciaries from investing based on climate change considerations.

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