North Carolina Republicans have officially filed a piece of legislation that, if put into law, would be one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States.
House Bill 804, titled the “Human Life Protection Act of 2025” and filed by Republican Representative Keith Kidwell (District 79), would make abortion after conception illegal except only to save the life of the mother, with no exceptions for rape or incest. HB 804 defines an unborn child as “an individual living member of the homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth, including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development.” Representatives Ben Moss (District 52) and Donnie Loftis (District 109) joined Kidwell in sponsoring the bill.
According to the bill, once made into a state law, anyone who is involved in performing or receiving an abortion could be found guilty of a felony, which also means they could spend up to life in prison. The bill also allows for physicians or medical professionals to have their licenses revoked if they’re involved in administering abortions.
“We support all pro-life bills because we believe unborn babies are humans that deserve protection from the moment of conception and we believe that children have the right to life,” said Tami Fitzgerald, Executive Director of NC Values Coalition. “We believe that protections are in order for unborn babies that are greater than just 12 weeks, because right after Senate Bill 20 was passed, as good as it is, we got new abortion statistics that showed that 92% of all the abortions in North Carolina are performed before 12 weeks.”
Senate Bill 20, the bill Fitzgerald referred to, was passed two years ago despite then-Governor Roy Cooper attempting to veto it, whereas the super majority of Republicans overrode his move. SB brought to North Carolinians a 12-week limit to abortions in the state, along with other additional restrictions.
Jillian Riley, State Director of Public Affairs with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement, reacting to the bill, “Year after year, we have extreme politicians introduce the same heinous bill that would ban abortion and turn North Carolina into a forced birth state. That’s exactly what this bill is. So, no, I wasn’t surprised, but I’m definitely disappointed.”
“We should not be moving to restrict access to abortion care any further. It’s absolutely ridiculous. There are already so many restrictions on access to medication abortion and access to abortion care in general for North Carolinians. We’re seeing North Carolinians have to leave the state in order to be able to access care. And that is not something that should be happening right now.”
The measure passed on first reading and was referred to the Committee on Tuesday. It remains to be seen if there’s enough support, even among Republicans, to move it forward. Unlike in 2023, when Republicans held a supermajority in both chambers, the party now only holds a super majority in the Senate, meaning they would need to win over Democratic support in the House to override a veto should it ultimately land on Governor Josh Stein’s desk.