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North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature passed a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, setting the state on a path to restricting access that could ultimately reverberate across the region. North Carolina has become a crucial access point for patients in the Southeast seeking abortions after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and many states in the region enacted near-total bans on the procedure. (Calfas and Kusisto, 5/4)

While abortions before 12 weeks would remain legal, patients would face additional hurdles. It requires in-person doctor visits for patients seeking medication abortions and mandates that a doctor must be present when abortion medication is administered. It adds new informed consent requirements, and it increases licensing requirements and regulatory fees for abortion providers. (Campbell, 5/4)

The bill flew through legislative votes, passing along party lines this week by the Republican-led state House of Representatives and Senate. Along the way, the bill has drawn many questions from physicians on the front lines who will have to follow new rules for how they provide medical care. “There’s so many things that are unclear in this legislation as it’s written. It will make it very challenging for health care providers to interpret it, to understand who will merit care after 12 weeks, who won’t,” said Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN and an associate professor in the Duke Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. (Blythe, 5/5)

In other abortion-related news from across the country —

In March, a Texas man, Marcus Silva, sued three women for $1 million each after they helped his ex-wife obtain an abortion last summer using pills. The suit alleged that the termination of the pregnancy qualified as wrongful death under state law, and he presented text messages between his ex-wife and the women as evidence. In the post-Roe era, the suit horrified abortion-rights advocates and galvanized opponents. Both sides view it as a test case aimed at discouraging anyone from helping women access abortion in states where the procedure is now banned or severely restricted. (Bazelon, 5/4)

Attorneys for a Republican prosecutor urged a judge Thursday to toss out a lawsuit seeking to repeal Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban, arguing that a newer state law permitting pre-viability abortions complements the ban rather than supersedes it, as Democrats maintain. (Richmond, 5/4)

The Missouri ACLU on Thursday sued statewide officials for stonewalling a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights as the attorney general pushes for a price tag on the proposal that is 1 million times higher than what the state auditor has estimated. At issue is a power struggle between two Republican statewide officials — Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick — that has delayed supporters from collecting required voter signatures on the ballot measure. (Ballentine, 5/4)

Most Republican members of the Oregon Senate failed to show up for the second straight day Thursday, delaying action by the majority Democrats on bills on gun safety, abortion rights and gender-affirming health care. The stayaway prevented a quorum, with Senate President Rob Wagner calling for another try on Friday. (Rush and Selsky, 5/5)

South Carolina state Senator Sandy Senn considers herself a “pro-life” Republican. But now she’s become one of the lead voices in the state opposing abortion restrictions that she has deemed go too far. (Villa de Petrzelka, 5/4)

On news about abortion pills —

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Thursday that “some restrictions” on mifepristone — the drug commonly used for abortions — would not have a “significant” impact in New Jersey. Persichilli made the comments when asked during a Senate budget hearing what kind of impact a possible federal court ruling restricting mifepristone could have in New Jersey. (Han, 5/4)

Also —

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Can A Fetus Be An Employee? States Are Testing The Boundaries Of Personhood After ‘Dobbs’
Kaitlyn Anderson was six months pregnant when a driver killed her and a Missouri Department of Transportation colleague in 2021 while they were doing roadwork near St. Louis. Her fetus also died. Although Anderson’s family tried to sue the department on her behalf, workers’ compensation laws in Missouri and elsewhere shield employers from wrongful death lawsuits when an employee dies on the job. So the case was also filed on behalf of the 25-year-old woman’s unborn child, a son named Jaxx. This was possible because Missouri law defines life — and legal rights — as beginning at conception. (Sable-Smith, 5/5)