NC Family Staff | June 30, 2023 | SHARE: 
The majority of a landmark pro-life law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly last month will go into effect on July 1, surviving a legal attempt by Planned Parenthood and other abortion activists to block it. As NC Family has covered in previous reports, Planned Parenthood and abortion activists challenged several provisions of SB 20—Care for Women, Children, and Families Act claiming they were unconstitutional. Judge Catherine Eagles, the federal district court judge in the case, heard arguments on Wednesday.
A significant part of the debate was whether modifications to SB 20 passed by the General Assembly this week would effectively address the issues raised by Planned Parenthood and the other plaintiffs in the case. Those amendments, signed into law by Governor Cooper on Thursday as part of House Bill 190, appear to have addressed all but one of the issues before the court, according to Judge Eagles’ ruling. She did choose to block a portion of the law that requires an abortionist to document in the patient’s record the existence of an intrauterine pregnancy.
Speaker of the NC House Tim Moore and President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate Phil Berger have intervened in the case to defend SB 20, since NC Attorney General Josh Stein refused to defend the law.
This judicial order is temporary, lasting for only 14 days, after which Judge Eagles will hear more arguments from the attorneys.
NC Family will continue to monitor updates surrounding this case.
