CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A viral tweet claims a bill in the North Carolina General Assembly would make abortion punishable by death.
The tweet reads, "Republicans in North Carolina just introduced a bill that’d make abortion punishable with death. So very pro-life of them."
The tweet was posted as the discussion surrounding abortion rights has been a mainstay on social media after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. This leaves it up to individual states to make laws on abortion.
Abortion is allowed in North Carolina, with Gov. Roy Cooper saying he would fight to keep lawmakers out of the exam room. Meanwhile, Republican leaders are hoping to reinstate a ban on almost all abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy.
THE QUESTIONS
Was this bill just introduced?
Has the bill moved out of committee?
OUR SOURCES
THE ANSWERS
No, this bill was not just introduced. It was introduced in February of 2021, and no, it has not moved out of committee.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to the North Carolina General Assembly, the bill was introduced in February 2021 by Reps. Larry Pittman and Mark Brody. The bill would expand first-degree and attempted murder statutes to include anyone who terminates or assists in terminating a pregnancy or fertilized egg.
Under structured sentencing, a Class A offender would receive a sentence of either death or life without parole. From the North Carolina General Assembly website, you can see the bill is still in committee.
"It was assigned to a committee," Bitzer said. "It has gone nowhere in that committee and is in all likelihood dead for the remainder of whatever sessions the legislature comes back into."
Professor Bitzer told WCNC Charlotte the bill is stuck in committee because no action was taken.
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"It's pretty much dead unless there was some kind of hearing or action brought forward, it's very difficult to bring the legislation back to life," Bitzer said.
The sponsors of this bill also want it to be a constitutional change, which Bitzer said would require jumping through even more hoops.
"It requires a super majority of 3/5th of both chambers to vote for that particular constitutional amendment, and then there is the second component which is going before the voters of North Carolina," Bitzer said.
Bitzer told WCNC Charlotte a similar bill could always be introduced.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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