It’s been two years since a 12-week abortion ban took effect in North Carolina.
In May 2023, in a party-line vote, the GOP-controlled legislature sent S.B. 20 — a bill making it more challenging to obtain an abortion in the state — to Gov. Cooper’s desk, only to be met with a veto. After debate and protests filled the General Assembly, the veto was overridden just days later and went into effect July 1, 2023.
This was just one summer after the Dobbs decision that overturned the longstanding Roe v. Wade decision, which opened up access to abortion. Not long after the Dobbs decision, a wave of states in the South issued either total abortion bans or bans on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy — which is more restrictive than North Carolina.
Now, a recent report revealed North Carolina is the second-highest state for the number of out-of-state patients receiving abortions in 2024, according to the Guttmacher Institute. That's because for many people seeking abortions in the South, North Carolina became their closest option. More than one-third of the nearly 46,000 abortions provided in North Carolina were for patients traveling from other, more restrictive states.
We look at the status of abortion care in North Carolina as the state emerges as a haven for Southern abortion seekers. We’ll hear from a medical practitioner working in abortion care and legal counsel for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic on the push for abortion access, while also hearing from a coalition pushing back on abortion access, working toward their commitment to protecting life and empowering mothers.
GUESTS:
Part 1: Rachel Crumpler, reporter for North Carolina Health News
Part 2: Dr. Jonas Swartz, obstetrician and gynecologist at Duke Health and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine
Susanna Birdsong, general counsel and vice president of compliance at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic
Part 3: Ashley Vaughan, press director of the NC Values Coalition
Mary Summa, general counsel at NC Values Coalition
