The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision striking down a North Carolina law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy with only narrow exceptions for medical emergencies. The court rejected the state’s claim that abortion providers did not have standing to challenge the law.
“This ruling is a victory for all North Carolinians in line with decades of Supreme Court precedent,” said Genevieve Scott, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Forcing someone to continue a pregnancy against their will is a violation of their basic humanity, their rights, and their freedom.”
The case, Bryant et al. v. Woodall et al., was filed in North Carolina federal court by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of North Carolina on behalf of several abortion providers in the state and their patients seeking abortions.
