A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT directing that certain information be provided to women considering a MEDICAL abortion in order to satisfy informed consent requirements; and requiring the department of health and human services to make that information available on its internet web site.
Whereas, medical abortion utilizing mifepristone has been available in the United States since 2000; and
Whereas, in 2014, thirty‑one percent (31%) of non‑hospital induced abortions were medical abortions; and
Whereas, some women who take mifepristone, a progesterone receptor antagonist, in order to terminate their pregnancies, change their minds and desire to stop the medical abortion process; and
Whereas, Issues in Law & Medicine, Volume 33, Number 1, 2018, details an observational case series of 754 patients who attempted to reverse the medical abortion process after taking mifepristone but before taking the second drug in the protocol, misoprostol; and
Whereas, that observational case series led to the conclusion that intramuscular progesterone and high‑dose oral progesterone were the most effective in reversing the medical abortion process for the women participating in the observational case series, with reversal rates of sixty‑four percent (64%) and sixty‑eight percent (68%), respectively; and
Whereas, there was no apparent increased risk of birth defects due to the use of progesterone to reverse the effects of mifepristone; Now, therefore:
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 90‑21.82 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(2a)	In addition to the information required by subdivision (2) of this section, the following information must be provided to a woman before a medical abortion:
a.	Immediately prior to administering the drug mifepristone, the physician or qualified health professional shall inform the woman that (i) it is still possible to discontinue a medical abortion by not taking the prescribed misoprostol and taking progesterone to reverse the effects of the mifepristone and (ii) information on how, where, and from whom women can obtain assistance in discontinuing a medical abortion is available on the Department of Health and Human Services' Internet Web site.
b.	Immediately prior to administering the drug misoprostol, the physician or qualified professional shall provide medical proof to the woman that fetal death has occurred."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 90‑21.84 reads as rewritten:
"§ 90‑21.84.  Internet Web site.
The Department shall develop and maintain a stable Internet Web site to provide the information described in sub‑subdivision a. of subdivision (2a) of G.S. 90‑21.82 and G.S. 90‑21.83. No information regarding who accesses the Web site shall be collected or maintained. The Department shall monitor the Web site on a regular basis to prevent and correct tampering."
SECTION 3.  On or before July 1, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services shall update its Internet Web site to provide information on how, where, and from whom women can obtain assistance in discontinuing the medical abortion process, as required by G.S. 90‑21.84, as amended by this act.
SECTION 4.  Section 3 of this act is effective when it becomes law. The remainder of this act becomes effective October 1, 2019.