NC attorney general won't move to enforce state's 20-week abortion ban

With Roe struck down North Carolina's 20-week abortion law is expected to take effect, but there's some legal procedure first and Attorney General Josh Stein says he won't engage in it.

Posted 2:34 p.m. Jul 21, 2022 — Updated 9:41 p.m. Jul 21, 2022

Travis Fain

, WRAL state government reporter

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said Thursday that he won't work to enforce the state's 20-week abortion ban, defying Republican lawmakers who have pressed him to do so as part of a long-running court case.

The state has a decades-old law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies. But that hasn't been enforced because of a federal court injunction barring the state from doing so.

With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case, the 20-week law is widely expected to go into effect. But there's a procedure to follow first, and it would normally include the attorney general asking the court to reconsider the injunction.

On Thursday, Stein said he wouldn't do that. “The Department of Justice will not take action that would restrict women’s ability to make their own reproductive health care decisions,” Stein, a Democrat and expected candidate for governor in 2024, said in a news release. “Protecting that ability is more important than ever, as states across the nation are banning abortions in all instances, including rape and incest.”

Abortion is still legal in NC. Here's what the law says

GOP lawmakers previously said that if Stein doesn't act in the court case, they will. Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives Tim Moore, in a statement Thursday, accused Stein of disregarding his oath to defend North Carolina laws and said Republican leaders are "exploring all options to defend the law and protect life in North Carolina."

"Despite his faux outrage, Josh Stein knows full well that the 20-week ban on the books does not limit women's freedom, but protects the unborn when they are capable of feeling pain in the womb," Moore said.

Moore and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger pressed Stein weeks ago for action in the case, and Berger said in a statement Thursday that this is the latest example of the attorney general's "refusal to do his job.”

The injunction is part of Bryant v. Woodall, a long-running case arguing that the 20-week ban was unconstitutional. The judge in that case, U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen, has called for briefs on the injunction, signaling a willingness to drop it.

Osteen said in a July 8 order that, if the parties didn't file briefs within 30 days, he'd "determine an appropriate course of action" himself.

"It appears the injunctive relief granted in this case may now be contrary to law," Osteen said in that order.

Although currently legal in North Carolina, abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy are rare. Nearly 70% of abortions performed on North Carolina residents in 2020 came before the eighth week, according to Department of Health and Human statistics. Roughly 48 abortions, or 0.2%, came after the 20-week mark that year, the statistics show.

For an additional 1,164 abortions, or 4.6% of all abortions in 2020, the state doesn't know how many weeks into the pregnancy they occurred.

Spotlight on the legislature

The Supreme Court’s decision last month has shifted the spotlight to the upcoming general election. Republicans need to win the vast majority of competitive legislative races to make a successful push for new restrictions. The decision also has raised the profile of upcoming state supreme court races, which could prove pivotal should challenges arise over state abortion laws.

In 2024, a statewide gubernatorial election could also influence abortion laws. Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is expected to run for governor, has likened abortion to murder and urged lawmakers to restrict the medical procedure. Stein, meanwhile, is seen as a possible Democratic frontrunner in that race, should he choose to run.

A WRAL News poll conducted two weeks before the high court’s decision found that most North Carolinians want abortion laws to stay the same or become less restrictive.

During a visit to Charlotte Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with state legislators, an abortion provider and the chief executive of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic for a roundtable on reproductive rights.

She called on legislators to support Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, whose veto power currently allows Democrats to block anti-abortion legislation. Harris also called on Congress to codify the right to abortion, according to a pool report.

Supporting the right to abortion "does not require you to abandon your faith or your beliefs, it's to agree that she should be able to make that [choice] without the government telling her what to do,” Harris said. “That really is as much as anything what's at stake here."

Harris also said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade puts at stake other issues, such as access to contraceptives and same-sex marriage, according to a pool report. Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurrence in the decision suggested that past rulings related to those issues could be reviewed.

On Thursday, the Right to Contraception Act — sponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning of Greensboro — passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 228-195. The legislation would protect the right to buy and use birth control and would protect against state laws that seek to restrict access to contraceptives.

All five North Carolina Democrats in the chamber voted for the bill. All eight House Republicans from the state voted against it. A similar bill faces a difficult road to passage in the evenly-split U.S. Senate.

The House also passed legislation Tuesday intended to protect same-sex marriages.

Suggest A Correction