RALEIGH Senators Jay Chauduri (D-Wake), Terry Van Duyn (D-Buncombe), Angela Bryant (D-Nash), and Joyce Waddell (D-Mecklenburg) filed Senate Bill 588 Tuesday to remove requirements that abortions be performed in a certified facility by a qualified physician licensed in the State of North Carolina, that an ultrasound image of the unborn child be provided to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and that limited abortion after 20 weeks of gestation to medical emergencies.The lawmakers said in a press conference Tuesday that N.C. should codify the changes to conform to a United State Supreme Court ruling, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, that found similar restrictions in the State of Texas to be an unnecessary burden on women seeking abortion.”North Carolina has the most severe restrictions of any state in the United States at the moment, and so there aren’t very many states that would need to go to the same lengths that N.C. would to conform their laws,” said Van Duyn.
