After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Hostile

North Carolina

North Carolina has enacted a twelve-week abortion ban, including additional burdensome restrictions, which took effect July 1, 2023.  Although the current governor is supportive of abortion rights, the legislature is hostile to abortion.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 12-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, 20-week LMP
  • Telemedicine Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

Restrictions

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, North Carolina enacted a twelve-week abortion ban, which took effect July 1, 2023.1 The state’s twenty-week gestational ban is currently in effect.2 North Carolina prohibits D&X procedures and abortions sought because of sex, race, and Down syndrome.3 Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory seventy-two-hour waiting period and in-person biased counseling.4 North Carolina also limits public funding for abortion,5 North Carolina law generally requires that a parent, legal guardian,6 or judge7 consent to a minor’s abortion.

North Carolina’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities8 and reporting.9 Beginning October 1, 2023, abortion care provided under an exception to the twelve-week ban must be provided in a hospital,10 however, this requirement is blocked, subject to a preliminary injunction.11 North Carolina law restricts the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians,12 prohibits the mailing of medication abortion,13 and requires providers to administer medication abortion in-person.1414 The state requires a follow-up visit within 14 days after medication abortion. 1 Providers who violate North Carolina’s abortion restrictions may face criminal and civil penalties. 16 The state funds anti-abortion centers, providing them with millions of dollars a year.17

State Protections

North Carolina law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion but protects clinic access by prohibiting obstruction.18 On July 6, 2022, the governor of North Carolina issued an executive order that prohibits the governor’s office and cabinet agencies from providing assistance or cooperation with out-of-state investigations and legal actions (including extradition) that arise from the provision of reproductive health care that is legal in North Carolina.19 Cabinet employees who are pregnant may not be required to travel to states that have limited reproductive health care services.20 On January 16, 2025, the new governor of North Carolina issued an executive order that includes these protections as well as direction to the North Carolina Department of Health to ensure access to medication abortion and contraception.21

Post-Roe Prohibitions

North Carolina has a pre-Roe ban, which is enjoined to the extent that it prevents abortion prior to viability.22

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, North Carolina has enacted a twelve-week abortion ban, including additional burdensome restrictions, which took effect on July 1, 2023.  Although the current governor is supportive of abortion rights, the current legislature is hostile to abortion.

 

  1. S.B. 20, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023), codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.81B(2). ↩︎
  2. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7 14-45.1(a), invalidated by Bryant v. Woodall, 363 F. Supp. 3d 611 (M.D.N.C. 2019), affu2019d, 1 F.4th 280 (4th Cir. June 23, 2021), injunction lifted in Bryant v. Woodall, No. 1:16CV1368 (M.D.N.C Aug. 17, 2022). ↩︎
  3. Id. ↩︎
  4. Id. u00a7 90-21.82; id. u00a7 90-21.85 (ultrasound requirement invalidated by Stuart v. Camnitz, 774 F.3d 238 (4th Cir. 2014), cert denied, 135 S. Ct. 2838 (June 15, 2015)); S.B. 20, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023) to be codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.81B(2). ↩︎
  5. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7 143C-6-5.5; 10A N.C. ADMIN. CODE 25P.0405. ↩︎
  6. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7 90-21.7 (a). ↩︎
  7. Id. u00a7 90-21.7 (b); id. u00a7 90-21.8. ↩︎
  8. Id. u00a7u00a7 14-45.1(a1), (c); 10A N.C. ADMIN. CODE 14E.0201u201308; S.B. 20, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023), codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.81B(2). ↩︎
  9. N.C. Gen. Stat u00a7u00a7 14-45.1(a1), (c). ↩︎
  10. Id. See Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein et. al., 1:23-CV-480. ↩︎
  11. Planned Parenthood S. Atl. v. Stein et al., 1:23-CV-480 (D. N.C. Sep. 30, 2023) (order granting a preliminary injunction). ↩︎
  12. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7u00a7 14-45.1(a), (g). ↩︎
  13. S.B. 20, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023) to be codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.81B(2). ↩︎
  14. N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.82. ↩︎
  15. S.B. 20, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023), codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. u00a7 90-21.81B(2). ↩︎
  16. See, e.g.,u00a0N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7u00a7 14-44, 14-44.1, 14-45. ↩︎
  17. H.B. 259 u00a7 9H.11(a), 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.C. 2023). ↩︎
  18. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7 14-277.4. ↩︎
  19. N.C. Exec. Order, No. 263 (Jul. 6, 2022). ↩︎
  20. Id. ↩︎
  21. N.C. Exec. Order, No. 8 (Jan. 16, 2025) https://governor.nc.gov/executive-order-no-8-reproductive-rights. ↩︎
  22. N.C. GEN. STAT. u00a7 14-44; see Bryant, 363 F. Supp. 3d at 615. ↩︎