A 72-hour waiting period for abortion has become law in North Carolina, where a bill that cleared the state House and Senate has landed on Governor Pat McCrory‘s desk. McCrory signed it into law this week, he said in an email where he listed the bills he had signed into law.
Angering abortion advocates because he said he would not increase restrictions on abortion, McCrory said he approves of the bill because women could make initial contact with an abortion provider by phone. This removes the argument that forcing women to make two trips to an abortion facility places an “undue burden” on them, as abortion supporters suggest.
North Carolina now joins South Dakota, Missouri, Utah, and Oklahoma as states requiring a three-day waiting period for abortion. The measures, in fact, are in line with national medical care standards.
Though abortion advocates cry foul with every waiting period law passed, the reality of medical care is that all procedures require consultation and waiting. With the exception of emergency surgeries to save lives, it’s rare that anyone does not wait for a medical procedure.
Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, criticized McCrory because he signed a bill which tightened abortion clinic restrictions. Northup said McCrory is interfering with “women’s access to safe, legal, essential health care.” Northrup added:
“No one should be forced to delay health care because politicians have the audacity to presume to know what is best for a woman and her family.”
What Northrup and other pro-abortion protesters don’t seem to grasp is that making medical facilities safer, or requiring a waiting period for a medical procedure is standard. However, abortion supporters support unfettered abortion access in the name of “health care.”
McCrory’s approval of legislation in line with standard medical practices is not interference, but responsible leadership when charged with the best interests of people in a state.
Waiting 72 hours between evaluation and a medical procedure is responsible. Surgery, no matter how common, is still surgery —it can alter a body forever. Fortunately for the people of North Carolina, their governor already understands the basics of medical safety.
