North Carolina

In 2012, the North Carolina legislature again relied on their power to override a veto to advance pro-life legislation.  Specifically, legislators overrode Governor Bev Purdue’s veto of a measure defunding abortion providers, just as they overrode vetoes of numerous pro-life provisions in 2011. Abortion:

• In 2011, North Carolina enacted an informed consent law, which includes a 24-hour reflection period.  Under the law, an abortion provider is required to provide, display, and describe ultrasound images to a woman seeking an abortion and offer to allow her to hear heart tones.  The law is in litigation.
• A physician may not perform an abortion on an unemancipated minor under the age of 18 without the written consent of one parent or a grandparent with whom the minor has lived for at least six months, unless there is a medical emergency or a minor obtains a court order.
• North Carolina has enacted comprehensive regulations establishing minimum health and safety standards for abortion clinics.  Among the areas regulated are clinic administration, staffing, patient medical evaluations, and post-operative care.
• Only physicians licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina may perform abortions.
• The state has an enforceable abortion reporting law, but does not require the reporting of information to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The measure pertains to both surgical and nonsurgical abortions.
• North Carolina follows the federal standard for Medicaid funding for abortions, only permitting the use of federal or state matching Medicaid funds for abortions necessary to preserve the life of the woman or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
• North Carolina prohibits abortion coverage for public employees except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest.
• The state has authorized “Choose Life” license plates, the proceeds of which benefit entities providing abortion alternatives.  A federal district court has ruled that the plates are unconstitutional because the North Carolina legislature did not offer a pro-abortion version of the plates for motorists to purchase. The law remains in litigation.
• Health insurance plans that provide prescription coverage must also provide coverage for contraception.  The provision includes an exemption so narrow that it excludes the ability of most employers and insurers with moral or religious objections from exercising the exemption.

Legal Recognition of Unborn and Newly Born:

• North Carolina protects unborn victims of violence from conception until birth.
• North Carolina defines a criminal assault on a pregnant woman that results in miscarriage, stillbirth, or “damage to pregnancy” as an enhanced offense for sentencing purposes.
• The state allows for a wrongful death (civil) action when a viable unborn child is killed through a negligent or criminal act.
• North Carolina does not require that infants who survive an abortion be given appropriate medical care.
• North Carolina has a “Baby Moses” law, establishing a safe haven for mothers to legally leave their infants at designated places and ensuring the infants receive appropriate care and protection.
• The state funds drug treatment programs for pregnant women and newborns.

Bioethics Laws:

• North Carolina maintains no laws regarding human cloning, destructive embryo research, or assisted reproductive technologies.
• North Carolina requires the state Department of Health and Human Services to make publicly available publications on umbilical cord stem cells and umbilical cord blood banking. The Department also encourages healthcare professionals to provide the pub­lications to their pregnant patients.

End of Life Laws:

• North Carolina’s treatment of assisted suicide is unclear.  While the state has statutorily adopted the common law of crimes, it has also abolished the common law crime of sui­cide. Assisted suicide may still be a common law crime.

Healthcare Rights of Conscience Laws: Participation in Abortion:

• A licensed physician or nurse who objects on religious, moral, or ethical grounds is not required to participate in abortions.
• A hospital or other healthcare institution is not required to provide abortions.
• The state provides some protection for the civil rights of pharmacists and pharmacies.

Participation in Research Harmful to Human Life:

• North Carolina currently provides no protection for the rights of healthcare providers who conscientiously object to participation in human cloning, destructive embryo re­search, or other forms of immoral medical research.

What Happened in 2012:

• North Carolina overrode Governor Bev Purdue’s veto of a measure defunding abortion providers.

• The state considered measures related to pain management and palliative care.

Recommendations for North Carolina Top Priorities:

• Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act
• Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act
• Assisted Suicide Ban Act

Other Priorities: Abortion

• Child Protection Act
• Joint Resolution Commending Pregnancy Centers

Legal Recognition and Protection for the Unborn:

• Unborn Wrongful Death Act (for a pre-viable child)
• Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
• Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act

Bioethics:

• Human Cloning Prohibition Act
• Destructive Embryo Research Act
• Prohibition on Public Funding of Human Cloning and Destructive Embryo Research Act

Healthcare Freedom of Conscience:

• Healthcare Freedom of Conscience Act

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