Most of abortion law change takes effect in North Carolina

Seven bills, including one involving Republican lawmakers’ effort to limit abortion, have been signed into law by North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

More legislation creating a buzz in Raleigh is on his desk awaiting either a signature into law, to become law without his signature after being there 10 days, or his all too familiar veto stamp. An education measure, the Parents Bill of Rights, plus a health care bill and a potential law to protect women’s sports are political lightning rods yet to be decided.

A day after Cooper affixed his signature to an abortion bill he openly dislikes, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued a temporary restraining order on part of the legislation. Her ruling, good for two weeks, blocks the proposal that documentation of a pregnancy within the uterus before conducting a medical abortion must be done by doctors.

Before Cooper signed Thursday, lawmakers on Wednesday clarified medication abortions to be legal in nearly all cases through 12 weeks. They also clarified lawful abortion is an exception to the fetal homicide statute.

The law goes into effect Saturday. Previously, the state banned most abortions after 20 weeks. Going forward, there are exceptions through 20 weeks for rape and incest, and through 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies. There is a medical emergency exception.

The bill was once vetoed and overridden, and challenged in court, leading to the back-and-forth this week.

“In addition to being dangerous for women,” Cooper said upon signing, “the rushed abortion ban was so poorly written that it is causing real uncertainty for doctors and other health care providers. This bill is important to clarify rules and provide some certainty, however we will continue fighting on all fronts the Republican assault on women’s reproductive freedom.”

Of the half-dozen bills signed Friday, one modified laws involving human trafficking.

The Senate’s concurrence Thursday on House of Representatives changes sent the Parents’ Bill of Rights to Cooper. Key items in it are limits on LGBTQ+ instruction in early grades, and teachers being required to alert parents before calling a student by a different name or pronoun.

Another bill for Cooper’s decision would prohibit hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgical gender transitions procedures to anyone under age 18.

And, a bill with backing in public opinion polls and notably by All-American collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines would prohibit transgender girls – meaning biological males – from playing sports designated for girls in middle and high school, and college. The Fairness in Women's Sports Act was supported by two eastern North Carolina Democrats, Sen. Val Applewhite and Rep. Michael Wray.