(Raleigh) Abortion is now illegal after 20e One week pregnant in North Carolina, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. This decision undermines the rights of women in one of the southern states of the United States that until now has been a haven of reproductive freedom.
Posted yesterday at 6:37pm.
Justice William Austin concluded in his ruling that the final decision of the Supreme Court, had invalidated the famous ruling ru vs. valleyas a result of overturning any legal basis to support his 2019 decision, imposing an injunction against the implementation of the 1973 anti-abortion law. This reversal by Justice Austin is inconsistent with recommendations made by all parties involved in the 2019 ruling, including That’s doctors, prosecutors and the attorney general’s office, who filed memoranda earlier this month asking to leave the injunction in effect.
“Neither this court, nor the public, nor lawyers, nor physicians,” wrote Justice Austin, appointed to the presidency of Republican George W. Bush, “must disregard the rule of law as determined by the Supreme Court.”
Unable to pass a new abortion ban law that could survive the overturn of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, Republican leaders in the General Assembly asked Justice Austin to withdraw his order and restore law enforcement. A gesture made after the state attorney general, a pro-choice Democrat, refused to present himself to a judge for a restriction of the right to abortion.
This ruling by Justice Austin adds fuel to the fire in the midterm elections that has already intensified since the Supreme Court ruling that shone the spotlight on state policies. In November, North Carolina Republicans will try to get the five seats they need to gain a landslide that would allow them to oppose the Democratic governor’s veto.
Elected Republicans make no secret that a victorious campaign could open the door to stricter laws to prohibit pregnancy termination.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters July 26 that he would like to see a bill before the Assembly that would ban abortion once an ultrasound detects a fetal heartbeat. In general, the heartbeat can be detected around the sixth week, before many women even know they are pregnant.
Governor Roy Cooper and Democrats have already made abortion rights a major campaign issue. Under an executive order signed on July 6, Mr. Cooper protected patients traveling to another country to undergo an abortion against any delivery procedure. It also banned all state agencies in North Carolina from cooperating with other states to prosecute women traveling to terminate pregnancies.
In the southern United States, North Carolina is a haven for women from South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, where abortions are prohibited from the sixth week of pregnancy.
Before Judge Austin withdrew the injunction, abortion was legal in North Carolina until the fetus was viable, somewhere between the age of twenty-four.e and 28e week of pregnancy. Only medical emergencies allowed exceptions.
