Bill Number:	HB 910 [ view bill ]
Status:	Rereferred to Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operation of the House
Sponsor(s):	LaRoque

NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina is opposed to this legislation.Coverage for abortion is standard in any comprehensive health benefit plan, and more than 87% of private health insurance plans offer it. State and municipal government employees - who are insured through a private, third-party provider, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina -shouldn't be exempt from this standard coverage simply because of where they work. While this bill died in the Committee on Rules, the state budget effectively removed abortion coverage for state employees (see HB 200).

Bill Number:	HB 200 [ view bill ]
Status:	Passed House and Senate; Governor Vetoed the Bill on June 12; House and Senate Voted to Override the Veto on June 15
Sponsor(s):	Brubaker

The budgetary attacks on Planned Parenthood at the federal level made their way to North Carolina. A special provision bars Planned Parenthood from receiving any state or federal funding. Contrary to what many politicians have stated, these funds do not cover abortion services; they do however provide life-saving health-care services, including STI testing and cancer screenings, as well as affordable contraception and teen pregnancy prevention programs. (For every dollar that Planned Parenthood receives in state funding, they save the state nearly four because of the preventive services they provide.)

In addition, two special provisions depleted the State Abortion Fund(which has existed for decades and provides abortion funding for low-income women) and barred coverage of abortion in the state employee health insurance plan. (Abortion is a coverage standard in nearly 90% of private health insurance plans.) Gov. Perdue vetoed the bill on 6/12/11, but the House and Senate each voted to override her veto on 6/15/11. In July, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina announced its plans to sue the state over the defunding provision.

Bill Number:	HB 289 [ view bill ]
Status:	Passed House 70-46.
Sponsor(s):	Gillespie

NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina is opposed to this bill that creates a state-sanctioned fund for anti-choice organizations.This bill allows for proceeds of the sale of license plates bearing the "Choose Life" slogan to be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services for distribution to an umbrella organization of more than 60 anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers in the state. Crisis pregnancy centers pose a legitimate medical clinics but are not licensed or regulated.This bill was signed into law 6/30/11.

At every step of the legislative process, a "Trust Women: Respect Choice" license plate was introduced as a counterpoint. Every time the measure was voted down.

Bill Number:	SB 73 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Finance
Sponsor(s):	Daniel; Allran; Harrington
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See HB 289.

Bill Number:	SB 736 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Appropriations
Sponsor(s):	Daniel

The goal of this bill was to eliminate the State Abortion Fund. It became a special provision of the state budget (see HB 200).

Bill Number:	SB 766 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Health Care
Sponsor(s):	Brock

This legislation attempted to create even more obstacles for young women seeking abortion services by. (Parental consent without a judicial bypass is already law in North Carolina. This bill would have taken that a step further by requiring notarization.) NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina opposes legislation that forces young women to seek parental consent or government permission to seek reproductive health care services. NARAL NC works to create a society where young women and girls will discuss their reproductive health with their parents, but such a requirement creates an undue burden on the pregnant minor.

Bill Number:	HB 347 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
Sponsor(s):	Randleman; Hurley; Avila

This bill would have required physicians to notify a parent when a minor seeks treatment for pregnancy, STDs/STIs, substance abuse or mental health issues. NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, along with the North Carolina Pediatric Society and many other pro-choice and pregnancy prevention organizations, strongly opposed this legislation. The bill ultimately died in committee, due in large part to the fact that it would have put the state out of compliance with Title X regulations and would have lost North Carolina millions of dollars in federal government funds.

Bill Number:	HB 215 [ view bill ]
Status:	Signed into law on 4/29/11
Sponsor(s):	Folwell; Hilton; Starnes; Steen

This legislation exploits the issue of violence against women in order to establish personhood rights for an embryo or fetus "at any stage of development" and to make a political gain in the abortion debate. Pregnant women who are victims of assault are especially tragic cases – and we agree these crimes should be punished severely. However, North Carolina law already provides for penalties in these cases. In addition, a federal law, also known as the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act,” exists. If the sponsors of this bill truly cared about punishing acts of violence against pregnant women, there were several constructive ways in which they could have proceeded that we would not have opposed. This bill was signed into law on 4/29/11.

Bill Number:	HB 854/SB 769 [ view bill ]
Status:	Passed House 71-48, just one vote shy of a veto-proof majority; passed Senate 29-20; sent to Governor's desk on June 17; Governor vetoed bill on June 27; Veto overridden in the House by a margin of one vote on July 26 and in the Senate by a margin of one vote on July 28
Sponsor(s):	Samuelson; McElraft

We're outraged that this bill, which undermines the doctor-patient relationship and interferes in a woman's ability to make her own health-care decisions, will now become law. It requires:

1. Mandated biased counseling written by politicians with no expertise in obstetrics-gynecology;
2. A 24-hour mandatory delay for women seeking abortion care;
3. Physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to provide consultations for any woman who calls to schedule an abortion even if the provider has never met the woman or confirmed that she is pregnant;
4. North Carolina to produce biased printed materials and a website;
5. The physician or qualified technician to perform an ultrasound - giving a description of the fetus or embryo - 4 hours before the abortion, forcing the woman to wait additional time;
6. A page and a half of newly created reporting requirements which must be completed by the physician, including documentation of the consultations provided to women who call but never become a patient.

There are no exceptions for cases of rape, incest or fetal anomaly. Doctors who do not comply can be sued by the woman seeking the abortion or the man who impregnated her.

Bill Number:	SB 633 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Insurance
Sponsor(s):	Brock

This bill would have excluded abortion from the services provided to state employees under their health insurance plan. This bill was referred to Insurance, but was ultimately unnecessary due to the passage of a similar provision in the state budget (see HB 200 and SB 910).

Bill Number:	SB 775 [ view bill ]
Status:	Referred to Committee on Health Care
Sponsor(s):	Brock

North Carolina already has laws in place which regulate abortion facilities to a greater degree than other medical clinics and hospitals. NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina is opposed to this legislation that would have created additional financial and administrative burdens for abortion facilities. The bill died in Health Care.