The North Carolina General Assembly is currently in its long legislative session, which starts in mid-January of odd years and is the first year of a two-year session. North Carolina's fiscal year runs from July 1 - June 30, and historically legislative long sessions are supposed to end before the new budget year begins in July. For over a decade, however, this has not been the case, with long legislative sessions running well into the fall, or even running all year, with multi-week breaks scheduled throughout. This undisciplined schedule has meant tracking legislation is now even more unpredictable, and can be quite time-consuming for the average voter.
Pro-Choice North Carolina is committed to bringing voices in support of reproductive freedom to the legislature, whether to promote proactive bills that should not be languishing in committee all session, or to oppose harmful, inflammatory, or unnecessary bills that restrict our freedoms and healthcare access. Support for reproductive freedom is the majority and popular opinion in North Carolina, and we demand that our lawmakers respond to the people they serve, not special interests, when crafting policies and laws that impact all of us.
We work with our partners to track a number of intersecting policy issues, including voting rights, protection of democracy, immigration policies, Medicaid and healthcare access, workers' rights, civil rights, economic security, and access to child care. Our speciality is promoting policies that support reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, contraception, and pregnancy care. With recent coordinated and similar attacks on both abortion care and LGBTQ+ rights demonstrating again how wide-ranging attacks on our bodies are, we are monitoring the below legislation for this session.
Bills in Support of Reproductive Freedom and Bodily Autonomy
Accountability for anti-abortion centers (CPCs)
Protecting access to reproductive healthcare
- HB 452: Revise Law/ Obstruction of Health Facility
- HB 473 / SB 383 - Right to IVF
- HB 474 / SB 413 - Right to use Contraception
- HB 509/SB 467 - Right to Reproductive Freedom Act
Protecting our rights and freedoms
- SB 381 - Equality for All
- HB 501 / SB 662 - Modernize Domestic Violence Prevention Order
- HB503 Don't Tread on Me Act
Because an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+ leadership controls both the North Carolina House and Senate, we unfortunately will likely not see these bills move forward. It’s still important to introduce these bills, to remind North Carolina residents what it looks like to take action to protect and expand rights, rather than to punish and stigmatize marginalized groups of people.
Bills Attacking Reproductive Freedom and Bodily Autonomy
- H553: Limiting Access to Medication Abortion
- An extension of 2023’s anti-abortion SB20, this bill unnecessarily attacks access to medication abortion, which is a safe and effective option for abortion care.
- S442/S560: Anti-Trans Foster Care Discrimination
- An unnecessary and inflammatory bill that attempts to politicize foster care and adoption for LGBTQ youth, and that runs contrary to the "best interests of the child" standard for care.
- S516: Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill 2.2
- A new version of 2016’s HB2, an anti-trans "bathroom bill", attacking trans communities and creating rigid state definitions of gender.
- S759/H519: Restricting Minors' Access to Healthcare
- A bill removing a minor’s (under 18 year old) ability to consent to most private medical treatment, including mental health counseling, access to contraception, and STI testing and treatment.
- H595: Expansion of Laws Attacking LGBTQ Students and Libraries
- Expands North Carolina’s 2023 version of the “Don’t Say Gay” bills that have been enacted around the country. This bill expands book bans to public, rather than just school, libraries and targets the LGBTQ+ community for increased discrimination
- H636: Banning Books in Schools
- Attempts to limit or ban books with LGBTQ content
- H804: Bans abortion completely, with very limited exceptions for life of the pregnant person
- H844: Creates a six-week abortion ban
It is unclear how or if any of these bills may move through the legislature. As of today, none of these bills have had committee or floor votes, and legislative rules require a bill to pass a full vote in one chamber by a deadline (for this session, May 8th) to still be an active bill for the remainder of the session. However, budget discussion state later this spring, and even if some of these bad bills never move through the normal legislative process, we could still see all or parts of some of these bills brought into budget negotiations.
Join us in speaking up about these bills, both what you want to see passed and what should be blocked! Remember that our lawmakers work for us. You can also contact them to tell them what is important to you and your community, like access to affordable healthcare, full public school funding, rebuilding Western NC after the hurricane, or protecting Medicaid. As a constituent, let your legislators know what you need them to do.
For more ways to take action for reproductive freedom, including easy links for emailing your state lawmakers, check out our Take Action page.