Governor Cooper Approves Amendments to North Carolina Abortion Ban

General Assembly rushed to pass House Bill 190 in response to lawsuit from abortion providers 

RALEIGH, N.C. — Today, Governor Cooper signed House Bill 190, a bill that amends Senate Bill 20, North Carolina’s sweeping law that severely restricts access to abortion and bans care after the 12th week of pregnancy in nearly all circumstances. H.B. 190, passed in response to the lawsuit filed by abortion providers, clarifies several vague or contradictory provisions in S.B. 20, including allowing medication abortion to be available beyond the 10-week period that the bill had arbitrarily imposed and clarifying that providers cannot be prosecuted for fetal homicide when they provide lawful abortions.

“This dangerous abortion ban will harm people providing and seeking abortion in North Carolina, and no amount of marginal changes will give North Carolinians back their right to bodily autonomy that anti-abortion politicians have stripped away,” said Jenny Black, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “Our legal challenge forced General Assembly leadership to clean up their mess of a bill and clarify the sloppy provisions in their ban. These amendments are little more than lipstick on a pig, but they will allow us to provide abortion care to more people within the confines of this unjust and inhumane law. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is working around the clock to implement these changes and prepare providers and patients for the sweeping abortion ban to take effect.”

As now amended, Senate Bill 20 is set to take effect this Saturday, July 1. At that time, most people who need abortion care after the 12th week of pregnancy will be forced to travel out of state for care, self-manage their abortion outside of the health care system, or carry a pregnancy against their will. 

In addition to banning abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy, Senate Bill 20 also adds new restrictions on abortion across the board, including:

• Requiring all patients to have two in-person visits separated by 72 hours and patients who choose medication abortion to schedule a third visit, which will be a significant and potentially insurmountable barrier for many patients. North Carolina law is out of step with the FDA’s determination that medication abortions may be prescribed safely via telehealth.
• Starting October 1, any abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy must be provided in a hospital, which will likely result in more expensive health care for the patient.
• Forces patients to listen to state-mandated, non-scientific, anti-abortion counseling and creates more paperwork for the patient, neither of which have any medical benefit. 
• Creates myriad new reporting requirements that could compromise patient confidentiality and provider safety.

Abortion bans are harming pregnancy care across the country. Since Roe was overturned, OBGYNs have seen increased morbidity, increased delays in care, and a worsening of pregnancy complications among their patients. Patients in states where abortion is banned are reportedly receiving substandard care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and even cancer treatment as providers are forced to seek legal advice before providing care, and restrictive laws like Senate Bill 20 create uncertainty in the health care system.