CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Josh Stein unveiled new measures on Thursday that extend state protections for certain health care providers and patients’ reproductive health data just a few days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Democratic governors — such as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent decision to stockpile abortion medication within the state — are taking renewed action to curb possible anti-abortion measures under Trump’s administration. Trump’s stance on abortion was largely inconsistent on the campaign trail and it’s unclear what action he will take after taking office next week.
“I don’t know what will happen, but what I am trying to communicate to the people of this state is that they have a champion in me for their personal privacy and their right to make their own health care decisions,” Stein said at a news conference.
Under the executive order, state Cabinet agencies are ordered not to cooperate with prosecution and penalties against health care providers who provided legal reproductive health services, including abortion.
State agencies also must review and revise how they store data related to a patient’s reproductive health to “maximize protections for individual privacy,” according to the executive order. The state’s health and human services department is charged with ensuring access to legal birth control and reproductive health care medication in North Carolina.
Stein’s action builds off a previous executive order from former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2022 shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Cooper’s order offered protections from extradition to out-of-state abortion patients and barred state agencies from aiding other states’ investigations into abortion patients traveling to North Carolina.
Stein’s actions further cement yearslong efforts by Democratic governors to offer sanctuary to those seeking abortions across the country. North Carolina is one of the only states in the South that doesn’t restrict abortion access to six weeks or below.
The GOP-dominated state legislature passed and overrode Cooper’s veto of a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks in 2023. A federal judge struck down part of the law last year that required physicians to document the “intrauterine location of a pregnancy” before distributing medication abortion.
Any further legislation on abortion will have a tougher time making its way through the legislature after Republicans lost their House supermajority in the 2024 general election. That also means Stein’s veto should be more effective than his predecessor’s.