The bill also makes it more difficult to access care, and implements hugely restrictive regulations on abortion clinics, which could force many of them to close their doors.
The 5th Circuit’s ruling maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, but severely limits access in ways that could harm patients seeking abortion care.
The bill would have guaranteed the right for Americans to obtain and use birth control without government interference. It would also protect the right of health care providers to distribute information about contraception and provide it to patients.
The ruling, the final word on a decision the judge rendered in April, blocks several state restrictions on abortion medication, but leaves others in place.
In 2012, when the General Assembly passed their voter ID law and faced a lawsuit from the Obama administration, then-Attorney General Roy Cooper said the law was “one of the worst election pieces of legislation in the country.” Cooper also urged Governor Pat McCrory to veto the bill.
Advocacy groups and lawmakers worry that unchecked bias and a potential second Trump term could greenlight more Supreme Court decisions aligned with far-right interests.
