One year into new abortion limits, North Carolina patients and providers struggle to shoulder the load restrictions bring

Increased restrictions have ushered in a new landscape of care with patients navigating more logistical hurdles and travel. Abortion providers have reworked operations to comply with the new law.

July 1, 2024
By Rachel Crumpler

Katherine Farris has been an abortion provider for more than 20 years, and she says that this past year has been the hardest of her career — by a long shot.

Not her first year of practice when everything was new. Not the year she stepped into the role of chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic to supervise clinic operations across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Not the years she navigated COVID protocols to keep her staff and patients safe.

Continued: https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/07/01/one-year-into-nc-new-abortion-law/

A clearer picture is emerging of the impact of North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions

Reproductive health care providers say NC’s new abortion law makes it harder for patients to obtain care and for providers to offer it. Data shows a 31 percent decline in abortions one month after law took effect July 1.

by Rachel Crumpler
October 11, 2023

Patients, health care providers and clinics were thrust into a new era of reproductive health care access on July 1 when the state’s increased abortion restrictions took effect.

The new North Carolina law limits most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and requires two in-person appointments for anyone seeking an abortion. Lawmakers added an in-person requirement to receive state-mandated counseling at least 72 hours before an abortion — something that could previously occur by telephone.

Continued: https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/10/11/a-clearer-picture-emerging-of-the-impact-of-north-carolinas-new-law-on-abortion-care/

North Carolina was an abortion haven. With its new 12-week ban, the protection will vanish.

Medical providers fear the new law and requirements for abortion clinics will make it impossible for many to access care — leaving an entire region without viable alternatives

Shefali Luthra
June 27, 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The kids were sleeping and it was still dark when Rocky left her house in Stockbridge, Georgia. It was 4:30 a.m., but she knew she and her fiancé had to leave early to make it to the clinic, which was a four-and-a-half hour drive — maybe a little less if they could beat traffic.

Rocky thought she’d caught her pregnancy early enough. A 31-year-old paralegal, she’d tested only a few days after missing her period and took two days to think about what to do. She realized that her family couldn’t afford another child — she already had three kids, ages 3, 10 and 11.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/06/north-carolina-12-week-abortion-ban-regional-access/

North Carolina’s abortion law may make traveling to end a pregnancy impossible for some in the South

Abortion clinics in Virginia expect an influx of patients, but many Southern residents may not have the option to travel such long distances.

May 20, 2023
By Aria Bendix

As lawmakers in North and South Carolina work to impose new restrictions on abortion, options for women seeking to end a pregnancy in the South are diminishing quickly.

In North Carolina, a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy goes into effect on July 1. Gov. Roy Cooper had vetoed the legislation, but the state's Republican-led Assembly voted Tuesday to override that veto.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/north-carolina-abortion-ban-travel-impossible-for-some-rcna85249

North Carolina’s Devastating New Abortion Ban and the Fight Ahead

BY BILLY CORRIHER
MAY 18, 2023

On Tuesday night, over the cries of hundreds of protesters, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina overrode the Democratic governor’s veto to enact an unpopular 12-week abortion ban, a bill that they refused to debate in a public hearing.

Republicans now enjoy more power in the state Capitol than they’ve had in years, after a Democratic lawmaker switched parties to give the GOP a veto-proof majority in both chambers. And it could get worse after they gerrymander election districts later this year, enabled by a conservative-controlled state Supreme Court. That new GOP majority on the court recently reversed course on democracy to sanction gerrymandering and voter suppression. This could lead to more new laws that hurt schools, trans people, workers, and so many more, in addition to giving Republicans near-total control over government in a state that has split evenly and twice elected a Democratic governor in recent years.
Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/north-carolina-devastating-new-abortion-ban.html

18.05.2023

Commentary

anti-choice cruelty

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice restrictions

What happened to the GOP’s promises to support women and families after Roe?

North Carolina’s new abortion ban exposes the GOP’s failures to shore up government assistance for parents and children.

By Dylan Scott
May 17, 2023

Last summer, after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the federal right to have an abortion, much ink was spilled on the possibility that Republicans, eager to pass a new round of abortion bans, would feel compelled at the same time to improve the social safety net to help the women and children their new laws would affect.

But that spending has largely not materialized. Though nearly 20 states have banned abortion over the past year, experts say few have put meaningful dollars into supporting children and families.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/2023/5/17/23725314/north-carolina-abortion-ban-paid-family-leave

17.05.2023

Commentary

Georgetown Center for Children and Families

North Carolina Became an “Abortion Destination.” That’s In Danger.

Governor Roy Cooper vetoed an attempt to ban most abortions after 12 weeks. The legislature could soon override him.

Abigail Weinberg
May 14, 2023

On Saturday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks. But this is far from the end: The Republican supermajority in the state legislature is poised to overturn the veto and enact an abortion ban.

It would be a blow not just to North Carolina, which currently permits abortion up to 20 weeks, but to the entire South. The state became an “abortion destination” after Roe v. Wade was overturned and neighboring states enacted strict bans. Abortions in North Carolina have reportedly risen by 37 percent since the Dobbs decision was handed down. And, according to a February Meredith poll, more than half of North Carolinians wanted to keep or expand the state’s current abortion law.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/05/north-carolina-abortion-ban-veto-roy-cooper/

14.05.2023

Commentary

Roy Cooper

traveling for abortion

In North Carolina, more people are training to support patients through an abortion

By Claire Donnelly
December 19, 2022

Lauren Overman has a suggested shopping list for her clients preparing to get an abortion. The list includes: a heating pad, a journal, aromatherapy oils – things that could bring them some physical or emotional comfort after the procedure. Overman is an abortion doula.

She has worked as a professional birth doula for many years. Recently, Overman also began offering advice and emotional support to people as they navigate having an abortion, which can often be lonely. She makes her services available either for free or on a sliding scale to abortion patients.

Continued: https://www.wglt.org/2022-12-19/in-north-carolina-more-people-are-training-to-support-patients-through-an-abortion

19.12.2022

Commentary

Featured

abortion doula

Carolina Abortion Fund

Lauren Overman

Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective

USA – Standing their ground outside the abortion clinic

April 6, 2022
Story by Rachel Crumpler

GREENSBORO — On this Saturday, two groups of people stand watch in the 20-space parking lot of a Japanese steakhouse, each staking out their own territory.

When a car pulls in, often with a woman driving, each group springs to action.

Those wearing rainbow-colored vests motion in the direction of the abortion clinic, guiding drivers to the proper place to park. Others, dressed in navy Sidewalk for Life hoodies, wave, smile and put their hands in a praying position. Some wield signs, such as one reading “God loves you and your baby. We can help.”

Continued: http://mediahub.unc.edu/standing-their-ground-outside-the-abortion-clinic/

USA – A Movement Grows Outside of East Charlotte Abortion Clinic

The 'New Feminist' defenders

Ryan Pitkin
September 24, 2020

The video begins with a 19-year-old woman relaxing in a lawn chair outside of A Preferred Women’s Health Center, an abortion clinic on Latrobe Drive in east Charlotte where tensions between anti-abortion activists and pro-choice clinic defenders have risen in recent years.

In the video, the 19-year-old clinic defender nonchalantly reads the lyrics to the song “WAP,” which stands for Wet Ass Pussy. She’s talking calmly, but just loud enough to drown out Philip “Flip” Benham, a known religious extremist who has spent nearly 20 years protesting and harassing patients at the east Charlotte clinic. While Benham is usually the loudest man on Latrobe Drive, he looks bewildered by the woman’s confident reading of Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion’s gospel. He continues to read a Bible passage aloud just feet away from her. Continued: https://qcnerve.com/new-defenders-charlotte-abortion-clinic/