Bill > H844

This bill makes several significant changes to health care and adoption laws in North Carolina. In the juvenile code, the bill modifies the purpose statement to specify that when a child cannot be returned home, they should be placed in a permanent home within two years, aligning with the Adoption and Safe Families Act. The bill adjusts parental rights termination language, changing "consecutive" to "cumulative" when defining abandonment. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create a website with comprehensive adoption information and develop a support program for families at risk of adoption dissolution. The bill modifies adoption-related procedures, such as allowing earlier prebirth determination of parental consent and adjusting appeal processes for adoption proceedings. In the education sector, the bill mandates that reproductive health education include information about adoption. Notably, the bill significantly restricts abortion access by reducing the legal timeframe for abortion from 12 to 6 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, incest, and life-limiting fetal anomalies. The bill also introduces more stringent reporting requirements for abortions performed after 6 weeks, including detailed documentation and ultrasound imaging. Most provisions will become effective in October 2025 or the 2026-2027 school year, with some immediate implementation upon becoming law.

Government Affairs

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H844