North Carolina still has time to ‘codify’ Roe. But what does that mean?

Roe v. Wade

Here's how the Supreme Court decision affects health care, politics, and more in Charlotte and North Carolina.

• Charlotte & North Carolina could become destinations for abortions

• The last weeks of Roe v. Wade: 2 NC women, 2 voices from America’s divide on abortion

• 2 ways Republicans could change NC abortion laws

• What is an ectopic pregnancy? An abortion? Learn about reproductive health in this guide.

• Read the full text of the Supreme Court ruling

• Abortion in North Carolina: A timeline of state laws that have restricted access

• Here’s a list of pregnancy crisis centers and abortion resources in North Carolina

In the days following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion advocates are looking to their state lawmakers to codify abortion access for constituents.

Codify is a word you might have heard being thrown around as a nationwide debate was sparked by the landmark court ruling that gave pregnant individuals a constitutional right to choose. But what exactly does it mean?

Codify, in simple terms, means to secure something into systematic code rather than relying on court precedent or court decisions. In the context of Roe v. Wade, codifying would look like federal or state legislatures passing laws to protect access to abortion procedures.

Linda C. McClain, a law professor at Boston University, explained in The Conversation that at the federal level, codifying Roe for every American would take Congress passing a law with the same protections provided by the court ruling from 1973. In that instance, it would be binding for U.S. states. That is not likely to happen at the federal level, given the current makeup of Congress.

What are the current abortion restrictions in NC, and how late can you get the procedure?

“Perhaps in the wake of the court’s overruling of Roe, calls for bipartisan efforts to ‘codify’ Roe may signal increased willingness to pass federal legislation to protect abortion access,” McClain wrote. “But some Republicans in Congress are already calling for federal legislation to do exactly the opposite.”

On the state level, lawmakers still have the opportunity to codify reproductive rights, including in North Carolina. The Supreme Court decision granted states the right to make their own decisions regarding reproductive rights.

Although abortion is still legal in North Carolina, there are still restrictions in place on how long a pregnant individual has before going through with the procedure and what must be done before that process can begin.

North Carolina Democrats introduced the Reproductive Freedom Act, or House Bill 1119, last month following the leaked Supreme Court draft on Roe v. Wade. The bill would codify Roe into state law while also removing state-sanctioned barriers to abortion access.

However, Republicans have a majority in North Carolina’s General Assembly, and it’s highly unlikely that any bills expanding abortion access would pass.

Republican leaders in the General Assembly recently called on Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein to reinstate North Carolina’s 20-week ban on abortion following the Supreme Court decision, The News & Observer reported.

In 2019, a federal judge issued an injunction ruling the 20-week ban to be unconstitutional. Since the decision, abortions have been legal up until “viability.” Viability refers to a point in fetal development when a fetus would be able to survive outside the uterus.

While no new abortion bills in North Carolina have been filed, Republicans have enough votes to pass new restrictions, but not enough to override vetoes from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper if legislation were presented.