North Carolina Republicans propose new abortion restrictions starting at 12 weeks
Republicans in North Carolina reached an agreement on a bill that seeks to impose new restrictions on abortion in the state — a move that drew quick rebuke from the left and suggestions from some on the right that the proposal didn’t go far enough.
During a short-notice press conference Tuesday evening, GOP leaders from both chambers revealed the fruits of a weeks-long, closed-door intraparty deliberation over how late a person could have an abortion. The presentation, made largely by a cadre of Republican women, also marked the beginning of what is expected to be a lightning-fast approval process.
State law currently bans abortions after 20 weeks, unless needed later on to save the mother’s life. Republicans said their plan would continue to allow for abortion past 12 weeks when the mother's life is in physical danger. It will also allow for abortions past that benchmark in cases of rape, incest, and when severe abnormalities are detected.
Republicans said their new proposal to ban most other abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy, though, would save lives of the unborn.
"Our laws have allowed abortions through the second trimester of a woman's pregnancy. That is unacceptable," state Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, "We have the opportunity to save many lives. We have the opportunity to provide women and families options that they haven't had before."
State Sen. Dan Blue and State Rep. Robert Reives, Democratic leaders in their respective chambers, released a joint statement accusing Republicans of jeopardizing women’s health.
“We’ve seen the devastating consequences in states that have banned abortion: rising rates of maternal mortality, women needlessly suffering after a miscarriage, patients turned away from hospitals when they need life-saving health care, and families trapped in generational poverty,” they said. “We can’t let these horror stories come to North Carolina. We can’t let our fundamental human rights be violated.”
Republicans said Democrats declined invitations to be involved in the bill-crafting process. The 46-page bill, released after 10 p.m. Tuesday, was scheduled for a committee hearing at 9 a.m Wednesday. Senate Leader Phil Berger’s office said in a press release that the bill would provide:
- $75 million to expand access to child care.
- More than $16 million (including federal matching funds) to reduce infant and maternal mortality.
- $20 million to pay for maternity and paternity leave for teachers and state employees.
- Nearly $59 million (not including federal matching funds) for foster care, kinship care, and children’s homes.
- $7 million to increase access to long-lasting, reversible birth control for underserved, uninsured, or medically indigent patients.
- $3 million to help mothers and fathers complete community college.
The bill also introduces a Class D felony and a $250,000 fine for any physician who doesn’t provide care for babies born alive during a botched procedure.
Krawiec said their group’s goal was not only to reduce abortions but to provide women with more resources to go through with a birth. Women “are going to have more options than they have in the past,” she said.
Too far, not far enough
North Carolina’s 20-week ban is already more restrictive than many northeastern and western states. Under the standards previously set by Roe v. Wade abortion was legal up until the point — usually around 24 to 26 weeks — that the fetus could be viable outside the womb.
The proposed restrictions Republicans described Tuesday night would leave North Carolina’s abortion laws more lenient than other southern states — such as Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and others — that ban the procedure at six weeks or earlier with few exceptions.
GOP leaders indicated that North Carolina’s swing state status played a part, with Krawiec saying they chose 12 weeks because it appeared to poll well.
Many Republican-controlled states have imposed new abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer to overturn Roe vs. Wade, leaving abortion laws up to the states.
The task was expected to be more difficult in North Carolina, though. Republican leaders in North Carolina had publicly expressed different preferences on how the state should restrict abortions.
Berger, R-Rockingham, had said he supports a ban after the first trimester. And House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, had said he supported a six-week ban. A trio of House Republicans in March filed a bill that would ban abortion at the point of conception.
Others in the chamber wanted no change to the law, in line with many constituents. Poll results have shown that North Carolinians are hesitant to dramatically change the state’s abortion laws.
At least one anti-abortion group suggested the agreement announced Tuesday doesn’t go far enough, illustrating the fine line Republican leaders had to walk to reach an agreement on a new ban.
The North Carolina Values Coalition described it as “a step in the right direction.”
“NC Values does not support abortion for any reason, except for the life of the mother, which is very rare, and in all circumstances both the lives of mother and child should be considered,” Tami Fitzgerald, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “This bill has provisions that will save thousands of unborn lives, and we will continue to educate the public, elect pro-life legislators, and push even further for legislation that protects every unborn life.”
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper also opposes the legislation and can veto legislation he doesn’t like, as he has done in the past.
"This proposal erodes even further the freedom of women and their doctors to make deeply personal health care decisions," Cooper said in a statement on social media. "I along with most North Carolinians are alarmed by the overreach of Republican politicians into people’s personal lives and I strongly oppose."
If Cooper were to veto the bill, it could still become law if every Republican voted to override the veto.
The Cotham question
Political observers will be closely watching Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham to see if she will support the legislation. She didn’t respond to requests for comment late Tuesday, but Rep. Sarah Stevens, a top GOP House leader, said every Republican lawmaker in the House and Senate had committed to voting for the measure.
Cotham ran as a Democrat in the November elections, winning her seat in a left-leaning district near Charlotte. But she switched parties last month, joining the GOP after becoming disillusioned with the Democratic Party. The switch gave the GOP the seat it needed in the house to override Cooper’s veto.
If Cotham were to support the bill, it would represent yet another staggering reversal. Cotham garnered national attention in 2015 for giving an impassioned speech on the House floor about the difficult decision to terminate her own pregnancy. Speaking in opposition to a proposed 72-hour waiting period, she accused the GOP of "wanting to play doctor," saying "my womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab."
Just a few months ago, she co-sponsored a bill to expand abortion access in North Carolina by codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law. Roe had allowed abortions up until a fetus could be viable outside the womb — which varies from each pregnancy but is typically 24 to 26 weeks.
The day she announced she was changing parties, Cotham was asked if she’d support a bill to cut nearly two more months off that and pass a 13-week ban in North Carolina, Cotham declined to comment. That same day, Democrats proposed an amendment to the state budget to prevent millions of taxpayer dollars from being sent to religious, anti-abortion nonprofits. Cotham voted it down along with every Republican.
Votes planned this week
The bill is expected to move quickly through the General Assembly, likely with little chance for the public — or Democratic lawmakers — to weigh in. GOP leaders said they expect it will have its first hearing Wednesday and then pass the full legislature Thursday.
Sen. Mary Wills Bode, a Raleigh Democrat, stood just outside the GOP press conference Tuesday night so that she could learn what was in the bill at the same time reporters did. Afterward she said lawmakers shouldn’t be creating new state law in secret, with little to no opportunity for anyone to give their opinion or suggest changes.
“This bill has largely bypassed the entire democratic process,” she said. “And it’s an issue that’s critically important to North Carolinians. We deserve an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion.”
Bode narrowly won election in 2022 in a competitive district covering northern Wake County and Granville County. Democrats portrayed that race, and a few other suburban contests, as the dividing line between being able to block abortion restrictions or not.
Setting the stage for 2024
Abortion will likely be a top issue in the next election, too.
A WRAL News poll in July showed that most North Carolinians wanted abortion laws to stay the same or become less restrictive. A few months later, another WRAL News poll showed that Tar Heel State residents were supportive of a law banning abortion at 20 weeks, but they were more divided on whether further restrictions are needed.
Democrats are expected to campaign on the idea that, if Republicans win the Governor’s Mansion and keep a supermajority in the legislature, they’ll pursue stricter abortion laws than they’re proposing this year.
Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat who’s running for governor, tweeted that “the stakes for the 2024 governor's race just got higher.”
“Women and their doctors should make these decisions, not politicians in Raleigh,” Stein’s post said. “I will keep fighting for women’s reproductive rights.”
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, considered the frontrunner to be the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, has compared abortion to murder. Last year, he acknowledged publicly that he paid for an abortion in 1989 — an event that he says shaped his views on the subject.
Robinson’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday. At an April 22 rally announcing his candidacy, Robinson said: “We need common sense legislation to prevent abortions after a heartbeat is detected.” That’s usually well before 12 weeks.
Republican Hal Weatherman, who’s running for lieutenant governor in the 2024 election, said Tuesday's proposal was “hard to celebrate.”
“At a minimum, I had hoped for a heartbeat bill (6 weeks) this session.” Weatherman said in a Twitter post. “... I look forward to the day when we have the votes to protect life from the day of conception.”
WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL Reporter Aaron Thomas contributed to this report.
