Bad bills, good bills
Bad Bills
There is no shortage of candidates for bad bills this session to highlight in this inaugural edition of "Bad Bills - Good Bills," but the recent restriction on abortion rights by General Assembly Republican certainly merits to be top of the list.
SB20:
Limits abortions to under 12, down from the current 20 weeks, except for some special circumstances;
Requires women seeking an abortion to visit a physician three times before having a medication-induced abortion:
72 hours prior to taking the medication for counselling;
At the time of taking the medication, which must be taken in the presence of a physician;
7 to 14 days later for a follow-up visit.
All this is medically unnecessary and serves simply to disadvantage those who travel for an abortion or cannot get time off for medical purposes.
Restricts where and how abortions can be conducted and adds costly registration requirements for abortion clinics. This is likely to reduce practical access to abortion services, which are already difficult to access in North Carolina.
Dangerously narrows current exemptions to abortion limitations to protect the life of the mother.
The following legislators have promised their constituents that they would preserve abortion rights. Three voted for SB20 anyway, and the fourth, Rep. Ted Davis, was absent. They still can keep their promise to their constituents by voting to sustain the Governor’s veto when it comes:
Rep. John Bradford: 919-733-5828
Rep. Tricia Cotham: 919-733-5749
Rep. Ted Davis: 919-733-5749
Sen. Michael Lee: 919-715-2525
Two more legislators may be persuaded to sustain a veto of SB20 by Gov. Cooper:
Rep. Jon Hardister: 919-733-5191
Sen. Bill Rabon: 919-733-5963
Call them all right now and:
Tell them to keep their promises!
Remind them that there is NO EVIDENCE that any of the provisions in this bill are needed to “protect women.” Abortion providers currently follow strict guidelines and there are NO significant safety issues reported.
Imposing additional restrictions on facilities and requiring hospitals to perform surgical abortions at 12 weeks is addressing a problem that doesn’t exist.
Share your own experience with abortion. Republicans say they are all about protecting freedom. Tell them to protect the freedom of women to make crucial choices that will affect the rest of their lives.
62% of respondents to a recent (February, 2023) poll in North Carolina who had an opinion said they wanted to keep the current abortion restrictions or relax them further.
Good Bills
In this session, Democrats introduced several similar bills designed to maintain the status quo for abortion rights established by the Roe v Wade and Casey Supreme Court decisions. Some of these bills would also roll back restrictions on abortions that have been passed in recent years. Since Republicans have majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, they completely control which bills will come to a vote. Thus, these bills will never even get voted on because the Republican majority wants to eliminate abortion rights and can keep these bills bottled up in committee. Still, Democrats have dropped markers to show their support for North Carolina women and their constitutional rights:
HB 19 (Codify Roe and Casey Protections; same as SB 19). Primary sponsors: Robert T. Reives, Becky Carney, Carla Cunningham, Terence Everitt.
SB 19 (Codify Roe and Casey Protections; same as HB 19). Primary sponsors: Dan Blue, Sydney Batch, Rachel Hunt.
SB 12 (Codify Roe and Casey Protections). Primary sponsor: Sydney Batch.HB 439 (RBG Act; same as SB 353). Primary sponsors: Julie von Haefen, Deb Butler, Lindsey Prather, Maria Cervania.
SB 353 (RBG Act; same as HB 439). Primary sponsors: Natasha Marcus, Natalie Murdock, Jay Chaudhuri.