Key Points of the 12-Week Abortion Ban
1. Begins July 1, 2023
2. The abortion clinics are no longer allowed to murder children after 12 weeks of age.
3. Murdering children that were conceived through rape is legal up to 20 weeks, and children with medical anomalies is legal up to 24 weeks. These abortions must be committed in a hospital, they cannot be legally killed in the abortion clinics.
4. The mom must have an in-person consultation 72 hours before her abortion.
5. They must allow the mom to see the ultrasound and hear the baby’s heartbeat 4 hours prior to the abortion.
6. They must allow the mother to see her child’s remains after they are killed.
7. They must schedule a follow up visit 7 to 14 days after the abortion.
8. Moms have the right to bring charges against the abortion clinic if she feels they have coerced her into an abortion up to 3 years after the fact. If she was a minor when she had the abortion, she has up until 3 years after she turns 18.
9. Money is allocated for resources to help the vulnerable moms, including childcare subsidies.
10. During the counseling, the mother must be informed of the following help available should she choose to KEEP her baby:
Benefits may be available for prenatal care, birth and neonatal care.
- Medicaid and other state or federal assistance may be available.
- The father is liable to support the child.
- A statement that there are alternatives to abortion and information on those programs can be found on a DHHS website.
11. State employees given 8 weeks paid maternity leave
12. Increased subsidies for childcare services
13. Several criminal provisions are included to help care for and protect women and children.
14. The criminal punishment for assaults on pregnant women will be increased, and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence will be created.
15. 10-year GPS monitoring for certain repeat and violent sexual offenders will increase to lifetime monitoring.
16. Specific help summarized:
- $75 million to expand access to child care
- More than $16 million (including federal matching funds) to reduce infant and maternal mortality
- $20 million to pay for maternity and paternity leave for teachers and state employees
- Nearly $59 million (not including federal matching funds) for foster care, kinship care and children’s homes
- $7 million to increase access to long-lasting, reversible birth control for underserved, uninsured or medically indigent patients
- $3 million to help mothers and fathers complete community college
Key Takeaways
1. This law limits the number of out-of-state abortions that will occur, but probably won’t eliminate it completely (if 10% of abortions in NC are above 12 weeks, in a facility like the one on Latrobe Drive In Charlotte, that means 5-7 babies saved per day).
2. This law gives us more opportunities to minister to each mom (once for in-person consult, next for abortion, finally for check up).
3. The four-hour waiting period between ultrasound and abortion may mean that we need to reconsider team scheduling. Afternoon teams become more crucial.
4. Determine how best to provide links and phone numbers for moms to access the new resources being offered through this bill. This is a great shift in the abortion bills: not only to limit or eliminate abortion, but to provide tangible help to encourage a choice of life. This is very much the Love Life model. DHHS website will apparently outline help and how to access it.
5. Be sure to call out about all the help that is available through DHHS website, in addition to our help. Help with schooling, childcare, maternity care, domestic violence against women, especially when pregnant.
More info can be found HERE
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