North Carolina has taken action to enhance pro-life legislation, including dealing with abortion clinics and their employees.
By Charlie Butts
OneNewsNow.com
June 5, 2015
RALEIGH – The Women and Children’s Protection Act of 2015 is now on its way to the governor’s desk. On Wednesday, North Carolina lawmakers passed House Bill 465 which, among other things, increases from 24 to 72 hours the waiting period for an abortion.
Barbara Holt of North Carolina Right to Life says the intent is to make sure all women seeking an abortion have ample time to review information provided to them and to contemplate a very serious decision.
“There’s usually, at the very least, that amount of time between the time you consult about the procedure until you actually have it – and in fact, often times it’s [longer] than 72 hours,” she points out to OneNewsNow.
Missouri, South Dakota and Utah also have 72-hour waiting periods; and Oklahoma’s law requiring the same waiting period goes into effect in November.
Holt explains the Woman and Children’s Protection Act also deals with abortion clinics and their workers.
“There are some provisions for conscience to protect the conscience of those individuals who don’t want to perform or in any way be involved in an abortion,” she states. “[Also] there is a requirement that there are annual inspections of the abortion facilities [and] that no one under the age of 18 can work at an abortion facility.”
There are also requirements for reporting abortions to the state.
Republican Governor Pat McCrory is expected to sign the bill.
The Tar Heel State: A beacon of light for life
Dr. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, sees passage of HB 465 as a continuation of “the agenda of life” in his state.
“I believe the bells of heaven were ringing when this bill achieved final passage in the North Carolina General Assembly and the governor agreed to sign it,” he says in a statement released to OneNewsNow today.
Read Dr. Creech’s statement in full by clicking here
“The saving of unborn life is not something we can see with the naked eye, but we can envision it with the eyes of hope. Thousands of more lives will now live that would have been destroyed without this legislation.”
According to Creech, pro-life legislation in North Carolina over the past four years – based on data from the state’s Center for Health Statistics – has saved the lives of more than 8,000 unborn babies.