As NC’s 20-week abortion ban is reviewed in court, Josh Stein vows to protect access
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Abortion in North Carolina
Republicans in the North Carolina state legislature passed a law that implements new abortion restrictions. What does that mean for access to abortion? Read coverage on the issue from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer.
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Amid an ongoing legal battle over a law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein vowed Wednesday to do everything “in my power” to protect reproductive freedom in the state.
During a press conference at the N.C. Department of Justice, Stein said he would continue to speak against efforts to restrict abortion access in the state. He urged abortion rights supporters to vote in the legislative election this November for Democratic candidates who would try to block Republican abortion bills from becoming law.
“If we value women and girls having the right to make their own health care decisions, then we have to elect representatives and senators to our state legislature who will defend those rights,” Stein said. “We know that the right to abortion care in North Carolina is on the ballot this November, and every election to come thereafter.”
The 20-week abortion ban, which was blocked by a federal judge from being enforced in 2019, could now be reinstated after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and a related abortion ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, the judge, William Osteen, ordered supporters and opponents of the 20-week ban to submit briefs with their arguments for why an injunction blocking the ban from going into effect should or should not be lifted.
Last week, Republican legislative leaders, who asked Stein to support the ban’s reinstatement, filed their own brief arguing that the ban was no longer unconstitutional and “there is no longer any basis for an injunction to shackle the state from pursuing its legitimate interests.”
Stein, who recused himself from the case after the 20-week ban was ruled unconstitutional in 2019, said DOJ attorneys would file their own brief on Monday, Aug. 8. He did not say what the department’s position on the ban would be, saying instead that attorneys were consulting with state officials who defended the ban during the original lawsuit and subsequent appeal.
Last month, however, Stein announced that the DOJ would not ask Osteen to reinstate the ban, as GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore had urged him to do after the Supreme Court released its decision overturning Roe and Casey.
Urging abortion rights supporters to vote
While the fight over North Carolina’s 20-week abortion ban continues in court, lawmakers on both sides of the issue have said the future of abortion access in the state hinges on the November election, when control of the state legislature will be on the ballot.
Democrats and Republicans have identified a handful of legislative districts that could be decided by narrow margins, and depending on the outcomes, could determine whether GOP lawmakers have a large enough majority to override vetoes from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Republicans currently hold 69 seats in the House, and 28 seats in the Senate, leaving them three seats shy of a supermajority in the House, and two seats short of one in the Senate.
And the top Republican in the House, Moore, has said that GOP lawmakers will make consideration of further abortion restrictions a priority if they return for next year’s session with enough votes to enact laws over Cooper’s objections.
U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat who represents Wake County, said that Republican legislative leaders had made it “crystal clear” that they will try to enact further restrictions on abortion “if given the chance.”
“North Carolina currently stands as a safe haven in the South, but we need to fight to keep it that way,” Ross said.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 4:43 PM.
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