Bill Summary for S 51 (2019-2020)

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Summary date: 

Feb 12 2019

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2019-2020 Session
Senate Bill 51 (Public) Filed Tuesday, February 12, 2019
AN ACT PROHIBITING DISMEMBERMENT ABORTIONS.
Intro. by Krawiec, Ballard, Sawyer.

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Bill summary

Identical to H 54, filed 2/12/19.

Enacts new GS Chapter 90, Article 1L (The Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act).

Defines several terms, including dismemberment abortion, and serious health risk to the unborn child's mother.

Makes it unlawful to willfully perform a dismemberment abortion (as defined in the Act) and thereby kill an unborn child, or to attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion unless necessary to prevent serious health risk to the mother. 

Provides for a physician accused of unlawful conduct under this Article to seek a hearing before the North Carolina Medical Board on whether the dismemberment abortion was necessary to prevent serious health risk to the mother. Makes the Board's findings admissible on that issue in any trial at which such unlawful conduct is alleged. 

Grants immunity from civil liability for actions related to dismemberment abortion to the woman upon whom the abortion was performed or attempted, non-physician employees acting at the direction of a physician, and pharmacists and other individuals who fill prescriptions and provide instruments or materials used in a dismemberment abortion.

Specifies that the civil remedies in GS 90-21.88 apply to violations of the new Article. That statute requires the court, if judgement is in favor of the plaintiff, to require the defendant to pay reasonable attorneys' fees, and if judgment is in favor of the defendant and the court finds that the plaintiff's suit was frivolous or brought in bad faith, require the plaintiff to pay reasonable attorneys' fees. The statute also allows injunctive relief to be sought by and granted to (1) the woman upon whom an abortion was performed or attempted to be performed; (2) any person who is the spouse, parent, sibling, or guardian of, or a current or former licensed health care provider of, the woman upon whom an abortion has been performed or attempted to be performed; or (3) the Attorney General. Prohibits granting relief for a violation of the Article if the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct.

Applies to the privacy protections in GS 90-21.89 to actions under the Article. The statute requires the court to rule whether the anonymity of any woman upon whom an abortion has been performed or attempted is to be preserved from public disclosure if the woman does not give her consent to the disclosure; also sets out actions the court must take when deciding a woman's anonymity should be preserved.

Clarifies that the Article does not create or recognize a right to abortion, nor a right to a particular method of abortion, and that it does not prohibit abortion for any reason, by any other method.

Contains a severability clause.

Effective December 1, 2019, and applies to claims for relief arising on or after that date.