By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
May 5, 2023
Pre-born North Carolinians will have a better chance at life, and pregnant women will have more support to make a pro-life decision, thanks to a new law limiting abortion after 12 weeks. The Care for Women, Children and Families Act provides more state funding for adoption services and maternal health programs and expands paid leave for state employees who are growing their families.
Introduced Tuesday by Republican legislators, the measure passed the House Wednesday night and the Senate on Thursday afternoon, both on party line votes. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s promised veto of the law could be overridden now that Republicans have a super-majority in both chambers of the Legislature.
“It is our prayer that with this new law, North Carolina will no longer be the Southeast’s abortion mecca,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “We commend pro-life lawmakers for their work on the bill and urge them to continue their stand for the unborn when it comes to overriding the veto.”
Creech acknowledged the disappointment felt by pro-life leaders who were hoping for a wholesale abortion ban, but encouraged lawmakers to keep up the good fight.
“We must continue working to change hearts and minds on the issue of abortion. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do in this state. This means engaging in compassionate and respectful dialogue, offering support and practical help to women in crisis pregnancies, and promoting a culture of life,” he wrote in a letter to legislators. “And while this methodology may not provide immediate and complete victory, we must continue to pursue this step-by-step progress toward a society that genuinely values and protects the sanctity of human life. God help us; we will get there!”
State law currently allows abortion all the way up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Starting July 1, under the new law, that will be reduced to 12 weeks. In the case of rape or incest, abortion would be allowed up to 20 weeks and 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies, including some physical or genetic disorders that can be diagnosed in the womb. An abortion could be performed at any time when the life of the mother is at stake.
Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth), who helped shepherd the measure through the Legislature, said during Thursday’s debate that many lawmakers who had worked for decades to save unborn babies for the sanctity of human life, “saw it as an opportunity to put forth a very pro-life, pro-woman legislation.”
“This is a pro-life plan, not an abortion ban,” she said of the 46-page law.
“Many of these opportunities for moms in this bill will make it easier for her to make that decision to keep her baby,” Krawiec told the House Joint Rules Committee. “Babies are not burdens. They are a joy. They are a gift.”
Nonetheless, the measure drew passionate opposition from Democrats who spoke against it in committee and on the chamber floors, many insisting that limiting abortion is robbing women of “bodily autonomy” and others scolding Republicans for pushing the bill through too quickly. At least twice, they tried unsuccessfully to thwart the bill’s passage on procedural grounds. They discounted the bill’s $160 million in funding to benefit parents and babies and said additional paperwork requirements for patients and doctors and licensing requirements for abortion clinics would make abortion inaccessible for some women.
The law requires women to make an in-person visit to a medical professional at least 72 hours before getting an abortion. (Currently the three-day waiting period can be initiated over the phone.) It also requires a follow-up visit for women who have a medically induced abortion, making it less convenient for women traveling to North Carolina from out of state for an abortion, a frequent occurrence since most other Southeastern states have passed more stringent abortion laws in the wake of last summer’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“In the months after the Dobbs Supreme Court victory, some states moved swiftly to strengthen protections for unborn children and mothers, but under pro-abortion extremists like Roy Cooper and Josh Stein, North Carolina fell behind,” explains Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Thousands more innocent babies have lost their lives in brutal abortions in the state, around 800 a month more on average.”
The organization reports that, based on the most recent CDC data, protecting unborn children at 12 weeks could impact more than 3,000 lives within the state each year and lessen abortion tourism which contributed to a nearly 25-percent increase in abortions in the first six months after the Dobbs decision when Roe v. Wade was overturned. The state Department of Health and Human Services recorded roughly 25,000 abortions in North Carolina in 2020.
The new law includes protections for health care providers who object to abortion “on moral, ethical, or religious grounds” preventing them from being required to participate in medical procedures that would result in an abortion. It also requires that doctors confirm that the “probable gestational age” of a fetus is no more than 10 weeks, before approving the use of the abortion pill.
Here’s the full text of the law.
Although opponents of the law claimed it is out of step with North Carolinians, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America announced the findings of a poll showing that nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of voters in the state support protecting unborn children at 12 weeks. Only 22 percent of voters agree with allowing abortion up until birth. Further, North Carolinians widely support the state’s existing laws requiring parental consent (67 percent), a 72-hour waiting period (57 percent) and an ultrasound prior to an abortion (55 percent). The poll surveyed 500 registered voters from January 9-12, 2023, and has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
