
RALEIGH — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein unveiled new measures Thursday that extend state protections for certain health care providers and patients’ reproductive health data just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Democratic governors — such as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent decision to stockpile abortion medication within the state — are taking renewed action to curb possible anti-abortion measures under Trump’s administration. Trump’s stance on abortion was largely inconsistent on the campaign trail, and it’s unclear what action he will take after taking office next week.
“I don’t know what will happen, but what I am trying to communicate to the people of this state is that they have a champion in me for their personal privacy and their right to make their own health care decisions,” Stein said at a news conference.
Under the executive order, state Cabinet agencies are ordered not to cooperate with prosecution and penalties against health care providers who provide legal reproductive health services, including abortion. That includes directing state law enforcement not to arrest people for out-of-state reproductive health care-related charges.
Under Section 4, Stein will decline extradition requests for reproductive health care-related charges unless the person was physically present in the requesting state when the alleged offense occurred and the alleged conduct would be criminal in both North Carolina and the other state.
Additionally, the order bans state agencies from sharing patient medical records or other information for out-of-state investigations. The only exception made for sharing such records would be if a request is made in writing by an out-of-state entity as part of an investigation.
The order also requires all Cabinet agencies to work together to protect people providing or seeking legal reproductive health care in North Carolina. It also protects pregnant state employees from being required to travel to states with reproductive health care restrictions and allows pregnant employees to decline travel to such states.
State agencies also must review and revise how they store data related to a patient’s reproductive health to “maximize protections for individual privacy,” according to the executive order. The state’s health and human services department is charged with ensuring access to legal birth control and reproductive health care medication in North Carolina.
Stein’s action builds off a previous executive order from former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2022 shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Cooper’s order offered protections from extradition to out-of-state abortion patients and barred state agencies from aiding other states’ investigations into abortion patients traveling to North Carolina.
Stein’s actions further cement yearslong efforts by Democratic governors to offer sanctuary to those seeking abortions across the country. North Carolina is one of the only states in the South that doesn’t restrict abortion access to six weeks or below.
The GOP-dominated state legislature passed and overrode Cooper’s veto of a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks in 2023. A federal judge struck down part of the law last year that required physicians to document the “intrauterine location of a pregnancy” before distributing medication for abortion.
Any further legislation on abortion will have a tougher time making its way through the legislature after Republicans lost their House supermajority in the 2024 general election, giving Stein more veto power than Cooper.
NC Values, a conservative nonprofit located in Charlotte, called Stein’s order “legally problematic” in at least three ways.
“With all the serious challenges facing North Carolinians, Governor Stein’s Executive Order No. 8 entitled ‘Reproductive Rights’ shows front and center just where his priorities lie — with enshrining a culture of death in North Carolina as best he can,” a press release by NC Values stated.
NC Values says Stein’s order violates the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution by attempting to shield medical personnel from other states’ laws regarding abortion-related services, and that it exceeds executive authority by attempting to establish shield law protections, which should be done through legislative action.
NC Values also stated the order improperly directs NCDHHS to provide additional health care provider information beyond what’s already mandated by existing North Carolina statute, overstepping executive authority.
North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon contributed to this report.