NORTH CAROLINA — After a federal judge ruled that abortions in North Carolina are now illegal after 20 weeks of pregnancy, Channel 9 is looking into just how many women the ruling impacts and what types of cases clinics have seen.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Osteen reinstated an unenforced 20-week abortion ban, with exceptions for urgent medical emergencies. The decision came after he said the June U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade erased the legal foundation for his 2019 ruling that placed an injunction on the 1973 state law.
[ RELATED: Federal judge reinstates North Carolina’s 20-week abortion ban ]
Clinic leaders said that while the percentage of patients seeking abortion care after 20 weeks is small, the care is crucial.
Others hope the restriction will lead families to other options for care.
“It is a rare occurrence, however, it is usually the most dire and important cases that are seeking care past 20 weeks,” said Calla Hales, executive director for A Preferred Women’s Health Center of Charlotte.
Hales said patients who seek abortions during that period are typically doing so due to a medical update.
“Something they’re seeing more often now, women who have had trouble accessing abortion care in other states and are now later on in their pregnancy,” Hales said. “In a situation like we have now, states are losing access every day. There are more and more boundaries that are keeping people from getting access early.”
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The ban has exceptions for urgent medical emergencies, but Hales said the scope of those emergencies is very narrow.
Dr. William Pincus, president of North Carolina Right to Life, said that while those emergency cases may occur, they are rare and there are other care options for the family.
“We used to think in medical school, these babies don’t live for two or three weeks at the most, and now we know that by treating them, they can live up to a year,” Pincus said.
Pincus adds that he hopes the ban can add to the Right to Life’s mission of changing people’s opinions on the humanity of the unborn child.
“People recognized at 20 weeks, ‘Wow, these babies are fully developed. They can suck their thumb, they can hear their mother’s voice. When you do an ultrasound, you can see their hands and feet. You can watch their heart beating, so all that humanizes the baby,” Pincus said.
The abortion ban was initially signed into law in 1973, just months after the Roe v. Wade ruling. A judge then declared it unconstitutional in 2019.
(WATCH BELOW: Judge reinstates North Carolina’s 20-week abortion ban)
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