NASW-NC Condemns Bans on Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

RALEIGH – This week, the North Carolina Legislature advanced two bills that removes access to reproductive and gender-affirming care. Both bills represent unparalleled government overreach into private healthcare decisions.

A monster abortion ban “conference committee report” was added to SB 20 in a procedural move that allowed legislators to bypass the normal committee process and restrict any opportunity to amend the bill. The public was given less than 11 hours to read the 46-page bill before a joint rules committee passed the bill on Wednesday morning.

This bill will ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy in most circumstances and impose other restrictions that will severely limit abortion care in the state.

“This ban will not only prevent people from getting the care they need but will have detrimental impacts on the physical and mental health of North Carolinians,” said Valerie Arendt, Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina. “NASW opposes government restrictions designed to limit access to reproductive health services, including abortion services.”

See full statements from Pro Choice NC and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

NASW-NC thanks the House and Senate members who spoke out against the harmful bill, especially social workers and Senators Graig Meyer and Sydney Batch. Senator Batch said, “This bill is a direct attack on the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and a blatant attempt to control women’s bodies and their lives. Young women in North Carolina today have less rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had. This bill is an extreme and oppressive step backward for our society and one that will deny women the right to make decisions about their own healthcare and future.” See Senator Batch’s full remarks here.

SB 20 has passed both the House and the Senate and will be sent to Governor Cooper, who said he will veto the bill. During this time, we implore you to reach back out to your legislators to sustain Governor Cooper’s veto.

Also on Wednesday, the North Carolina House passed HB 808, a bill restricting the access of trans youth to gender-affirming care. HB 808, which originally banned all gender-affirming care, was substituted with a ban on gender transition surgeries for minors earlier this week. Legislators added an amendment banning state funding for any “gender transition procedures,” a provision that could cut off funding for hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and more. NASW-NC denounces any efforts to ban gender-affirming care.

The NASW Code of Ethics states that “social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals”. Self-determination related to gender affirming care AND reproductive health means that without government interference or reproductive coercion by an intimate partner, friend, family member, or professional, people should make their own decisions about healthcare.