N.C. House Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Abortion Ban Within 24 Hours

RALEIGH — Tonight, North Carolina House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 20, a sweeping bill that will ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy in most circumstances and impose other restrictions that will severely limit abortion care in the state.

The 46-page bill was presented outside of the standard process — with little-to-no public notice — as a “conference committee report.” This procedural move allows legislators to bypass the normal committee process and restrict any opportunity to amend the bill.

“This is a horrendous, monster abortion ban cloaked in medical misinformation, misdirection, and straight-up lies,” said Jillian Riley, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “Anti-abortion politicians have rolled up a ban on abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy into a far-reaching bill with new, severe restrictions that will make it much harder to provide abortion care and for patients to get an abortion even before 12 weeks. Politicians are putting pregnant people at risk and stripping us of our rights to build our families and futures. And this isn’t the end: this bill is part of a nationwide campaign by anti-abortion extremists to completely end legal abortion throughout the United States.”

Most people who need abortion care after 12 weeks of pregnancy will be forced to travel out of state if they have the means, seek care outside of the health care system, or carry a pregnancy against their will. Any abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy must be provided in a hospital, which will result in more expensive health care for the patient.

Senate Bill 20 decreases access to medication abortion by a week, from 11 weeks to 10 due to the requirement that the doctor must confirm the pregnancy is less than 70 days or 10 weeks. The bill also requires a patient accessing medication abortion to come into the clinic for an additional in-person visit both before and for the abortion, mandating that a patient receive state-scripted counseling in person at least 72 hours before their appointment.

Senate Bill 20 adds medically unnecessary and onerous requirements on abortion clinics, potentially forcing them to acquire an additional “ambulatory surgical center” license. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic does not have any health center in North Carolina that currently meets all of the requirements of that license, and many facilities will not be able to meet them in the near future.

There is mounting evidence that abortion bans lead to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality. According to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, states that have enacted abortion bans this year experienced a 10.5 percent decrease in OBGYN resident applications.

The harmful consequences of abortion bans extend beyond abortion care. 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 create uncertainty in the health care system.

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