The bill would allow exceptions for rape and incest through 20 weeks and would allow exceptions for fetal life-limiting anomalies through 24 weeks. According to the account, there would also be an exception to save the mother’s life.
The law also includes criminal penalties related to abortion and child care, such as a $250,000 fine for physicians who fail to care for a kid who is born alive following an ab0rtion attempt. According to the bill, those who illegally offer ab0rtion medications to women or market ab0rtion pills to women will face a $5,000 fine.
“The ‘Care for Women, Children, and Families Act’ is reasonable, commonsense legislation that will protect more lives than at any point in the last 50 years,” stated state Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R). “We’re starting to build a culture that values life, and that’s something we can all be very proud of.”
Democrats and advocacy groups have blasted the state Republicans’ proposal, calling it overly restrictive. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he opposed the bill, describing it as an “overreach” into people’s lives.
“This proposal erodes even further the freedom of women and their doctors to make deeply personal health care decisions. I along with most North Carolinians are alarmed by the overreach of Republican politicians into people’s personal lives and I strongly oppose it,” he said in a statement.
Cooper promised to veto the bill if it passed the legislature on Wednesday. However, the Republicans now have a veto-proof supermajority after a Democrat switched parties last month.
“Don’t let this so-called 12-week abortion ban fool you,” Cooper said in a statement. “It will effectively ban access to reproductive freedom earlier and sometimes altogether for many women because of new restrictions and requirements. This is why Republicans are ramming it through with no chance to amend it. I will veto this extreme ban and need everyone’s help to hold it.”
Other groups have also indicated opposition to the bill, with the ACLU of North Carolina saying, “Any ban on ab0rtion is unacceptable,” in a statement. The group also noted an abortion ban is “deeply unpopular” in North Carolina.
“Don’t be fooled. This bill is neither moderate nor a compromise. The majority of North Carolinians do not support further restrictions on abortion access,” North Carolina ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Liz Barber said. “Lawmakers are ignoring the democratic process to push through unpopular legislation against the people’s will.”
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