RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge ruled Friday that North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban can go into effect beginning Saturday, but temporarily blocked one part of the law.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said that many of the points of confusion and contradiction that had been raised by Planned Parenthood in its lawsuit against the abortion law had been clarified by last-minute revisions GOP lawmakers proposed in recent days, which were signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday.
Eagles sided with Planned Parenthood on one provision in the sweeping law that requires physicians who are prescribing medication abortions to document the existence of a pregnancy. The judge said a revised version of that provision is still likely “unconstitutionally vague” because of cases in which the pregnancy is at an early stage, and can’t be detected. That part of the law was blocked from being enforced for at least the next two weeks.
But the main thrust of the law, a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks, will now go into effect on Saturday.
The ruling comes after a flurry of action that took place in recent days, following Planned Parenthood’s decision to challenge the law in federal district court earlier in June. The lawsuit, filed by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and a Triangle OB-GYN, took aim at certain parts of the law it said were too confusing and contradictory for physicians to follow.
After the lawsuit identified confusing provisions of the law, Republicans proposed changes that passed with bipartisan support and were signed by the Democratic governor.
“In addition to being dangerous for women, the rushed abortion ban was so poorly written that it is causing real uncertainty for doctors and other health care providers,” Cooper wrote in a statement announcing he had signed House Bill 190. “This bill is important to clarify the rules and provide some certainty, however we will continue fighting on all fronts the Republican assault on women’s reproductive freedom.”
The changes clarify that medication abortions are lawful through 12 weeks. The original bill had stated that physicians providing drugs for medication abortions needed to verify that the age of the fetus was 10 weeks, so the legality of medication abortions between 10 and 12 weeks had been unclear.
Another issue raised by Planned Parenthood was whether the law made it illegal for people in North Carolina to help others get abortions in other states that are legal there, but not allowed here, under the new 12-week law.
Eagles said the confusion over the wording of that provision had been cleared up, after lawyers for Republican legislative leaders and other defendants named in the suit, including Attorney General Josh Stein, told the court on Thursday that they had agreed to clarify that nothing in the law would penalize someone “who advises, procures, causes, or otherwise assists someone in obtaining a lawful out-of-state abortion.”
Other changes GOP lawmakers made to the law include a clarification that lawful abortions don’t violate the state’s fetal homicide law, and that the 72-hour waiting period doesn’t apply in cases involving a medical emergency.
Peter Im, an attorney for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said that the push by Republican lawmakers to make changes to the law before Eagles handed down her ruling showed that there were serious problems with the law that needed to be addressed.
“Basically as soon as we filed the lawsuit, it seems like the legislature started to move, and started to correct their mistakes,” Im said in a call with reporters. “I think that we were confident about all of our claims and all of our challenges, and Judge Eagles’ decision vindicated that.”
Some parts of the law won’t take effect until Oct. 1, including a requirement that abortions being performed after 12 weeks — under one of the exceptions laid out for rape and incest, fetal abnormalities, or the life of the mother — take place in hospitals.
But starting on Saturday, North Carolina law will ban most abortions after 12 weeks. State law previously allowed most abortions up until 20 weeks.
Abortion providers said after Friday’s ruling that they’re prepared for the new law to kick in, and that all of the 14 abortion clinics in the state expect to continue seeing patients.
“We’ve been working really hard over the last month to be able to comply with this law, and our providers and our staff have been working around the clock to make sure our health centers can stay open,” said Molly Rivera, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
In the meantime, other aspects of the law challenged by Planned Parenthood are expected to continue being examined in court. Eagles said she’ll provide a schedule next week for when all parties in the case should submit additional briefs.
