Governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon protecting abortion providers in the state from prosecution by other states. The order provides protections against extradition for those seeking or providing reproductive health care services in North Carolina. It also prohibits agencies from cooperating in investigations initiated by other states into anyone obtaining or providing reproductive health care that is legal North Carolina.
“The Supreme Court ripped away the constitutional right to reproductive freedom that women have relied on for five decades,” said Cooper in a statement. “For now, it’s up to the states to determine whether women get reproductive health care, and in North Carolina they still can, thanks to my veto and enough legislative votes to sustain it. I am determined to keep it that way and people need to know that their votes in state legislative races this November will determine the fate of women’s health and freedom in our state.”
One third of the patients on Planned Parenthood’s schedule in North Carolina clinics this week are from out of state as neighboring states ban abortion access, according to the organization.
Cooper was joined Wednesday by Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund along with other state reproductive care advocates.
“Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, North Carolina has become an increasingly critical access point for people traveling for abortion care, including from neighboring South Carolina and Tennessee, where lawmakers in both states have swiftly banned most abortions,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “Now we must continue to do everything in our power to ensure abortion remains accessible in North Carolina, both for North Carolinians and those forced to flee their own state amid mounting restrictions and cruel bans.”
The order also says that a pregnant state employee cannot be required to travel to a state without access to abortion, and directs the Department of Public Safety to work with law enforcement to stop anyone blocking access to a health care facility. There are also protections against extradition for those seeking or providing reproductive health care services in North Carolina.
