Enacts new Part 6A, Abortion Facility Licensure Act, to Article 6 in GS Chapter 131E to establish licensing requirements for abortion facilities. Includes definitions applicable to Part 6A. Prohibits any person from establishing, operating, or maintaining an abortion facility without first applying for a license and submitting the required information and an application fee of $750 to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Defines abortion facility as any building in which a medical or surgical procedure causes an abortion, provided the facility performs at least 100 abortions per calendar year; includes abortion clinics, but does not include facilities providing overnight accommodations for patients. Authorizes the Secretary of DHHS to deny the application if: (1) the applicant has been convicted of a felony or of two or more misdemeanors involving moral turpitude, as specified; (2) the licensure status or record of the applicant in any other relevant state indicates that licensing the applicant in NC would be detrimental to the public; or (3) the applicant has insufficient resources to operate and conduct the facility as required. Requires facilities seeking licensure to meet three criteria. Provides for DHHS access to facility premises and information, periodic review of licensees, license terms, a renewal fee of $300, and provisional licenses. Requires a licensee to post the license on the premises in a conspicuous place, and to make available for inspection a registry of all staff physicians. Requires any corporation operating an abortion facility to have a licensed physician actively engaged in the practice of medicine at the facility as an officer or director.
Details procedures for denying, suspending, or revoking a license after notice and opportunity for a hearing. Includes hearing procedures, and permits an applicant or licensee to challenge DHHS’s decision by filing a contested case under the Administrative Procedure Act. Requires the applicant to file a statement of ownership with specified information as a condition for a new or renewed license, and to renew the statement every six months. Requires each licensee to file an attested financial statement, and specifies that no public funds will be spent on any patient in a facility or paid to any facility that failed the file the required statement.
Directs the owner/operator of the facility to submit architectural drawings and specifications to DHHS for approval before beginning new construction or alterations to an existing facility. Requires DHHS to inspect each licensed facility at least four times in a fiscal year. Includes additional provisions relating to facility inspections.
Directs the Medical Care Commission to adopt rules, including rules for the receipt and investigation of complaints regarding any abortion facility or any physician practicing in the facility. Makes any person operating a facility without a license guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and liable for a $10,000 fine. Specifies that each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate offense. Makes operating a facility in violation of Part 6A a public nuisance subject to abatement. Includes a severability clause.
Applies to all abortion facilities seeking initial or renewal licensure on and after October 1, 2011, including currently certified abortion clinics.