HB 602/ SB 359 - (Abortion Penalties)

SB 359 / HB 602 targets health care providers who provide safe and legal abortion care with the threat of a serious criminal penalty. This bill is not based in medical science or fact and would create confusion among both patients and physicians about the options available during complex or emergency medical situations. It demonizes and criminalizes doctors, stigmatizes reproductive health care, and seeks to intimidate physicians in order to prevent them from providing the care their patients expect and need. This bill is another an attack on North Carolinians’ access to safe abortions and an attack on the physicians who provide them. It is also unnecessary because federal laws already address doctors who do not meet the standards of abortion care.