In Difficult Times Good People gravitate towards Absolute Truth
The Case for a Law Defining LIFE (which includes time in the womb)
(G) The State, having a vested interest in the life of the unborn child, just as it has an interest in all children, will act on its behalf and for its best interests.
SECTION 2: FINDINGS. The North Carolina General Assembly hereby finds, according to contemporary medical research, all of the following:
(1) A fetal heartbeat begins at a biologically identifiable moment in time, normally when the fetal heart is formed in during the early weeks of gestation - between 5-6 weeks of gestation.
(2) An unborn human being begins to move about in the womb at approximately 8 weeks of gestation.
(3) At 9 weeks of gestation, all basic physiological functions are present. Teeth and eyes are present, as well as external genitalia.
(4) An unborn human being's vital organs begin to function at 10 weeks of gestation. Hair, fingernails, and toenails also begin to form.
(5) At 11 weeks of gestation, an unborn human being's diaphragm is developing, and he or she may even hiccup. He or she is beginning to move about freely in the womb.
(6) At 12 weeks of gestation, an unborn human being can open and close his or her fingers, starts to make sucking motions, and senses stimulation from the world outside the womb. Importantly, he or she has taken 'the human form' in all relevant aspects. [See Gonzalez v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007).
(7) By 15 weeks (if not earlier), an unborn human being can clearly feel pain.
(8) The majority of abortion procedures performed after 15 weeks of gestation are dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures which involve the use of surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn child apart before removing the pieces of the dead child from the womb. The Legislature finds that the intentional commitment of such acts for non-therapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession.
(9) Abortion carries significant physical and psychological risks to the maternal patient, and these physical and psychological risks increase with gestational age. Specifically, in abortions performed after 8 weeks of gestation, the relative physical and psychological risks escalate exponentially as gestational age increases.
(10) "As the second trimester progresses, in the vast majority of uncomplicated pregnancies, the material health risks of undergoing an abortion are greater than the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term."
(11) As many as thirty percent of natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage.
(12) Fewer than five percent of all natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
(13) Over ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies survive the first trimester if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
(14) Nearly ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies do not survive the first trimester if a fetal heartbeat is not detected.
(15) A fetal heartbeat is a key medical predictor that an unborn human individual will reach live birth.
(16) The State of North Carolina has legitimate interests from the outset of a pregnancy in protecting the life and health of the pregnant woman, the life of the unborn child who is developing inside her womb, and the integrity of the medical profession.
(17) "Medical complications from dilation and evacuation abortions include, but are not limited to: pelvic infection, incomplete abortions (retained fetal tissue), blood clots, heavy bleeding or hemorrhage, laceration, tear, or other injury to the cervix, puncture, laceration, tear, or other injury to the uterus, injury to the bowel or bladder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other emotional or psychological problems. Further, in abortions performed after 15 weeks of gestation, there is a higher risk of requiring a hysterectomy, other reparative type surgery, or blood transfusion."
(18) In order to make an informed choice about whether to continue a pregnancy, a pregnant woman has a legitimate interest in knowing the likelihood of the human fetus surviving to full-term birth based upon the presence of a fetal heartbeat.
[These findings were accepted by the Mississippi state legislature, after consultation with medical professions. See reference provided]
SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS. As used in this article:
(1) "Conception" means fertilization.
(2) "Contraceptive" means a drug, device, or chemical that prevents conception.
(3) "Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.
(4) "Gestational age" means the age of an unborn human individual as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman.
(5) "Gestational sac" refers to the structure that houses and encompasses the extraembryonic membranes that envelop the human fetus and that is typically visible by ultrasound after the fourth week of pregnancy.
(6) "Human fetus" or "unborn child" each means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.
(7) "Intrauterine pregnancy" means a pregnancy in which a human fetus is attached to the placenta within the uterus of a pregnant woman.
(8) "Medical emergency" means a condition that, by any reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman that it necessitates the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death without first determining whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat or for which the delay necessary to determine whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat will create serious risk of a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions. A condition must not be considered a medical emergency if based on a claim or diagnosis that a woman will engage in conduct that she intends to result in her death or in a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.
(9) "Physician" means any person licensed to practice medicine and surgery, or osteopathic medicine and surgery, in this State.
(10) "Reasonable medical judgment" means a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician who is knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.
(11) "Spontaneous miscarriage" means the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy and the expulsion of the human fetus, typically caused by genetic defects in the human fetus or physical abnormalities in the pregnant woman.
(12) "Viability Rule" refers to the gestational age at which a prematurely born fetus/infant has a 50% chance of long-term survival outside its mother's womb. In Roe v. Wade, "viability" was understood to mean 24 weeks of gestation.
SECTION 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR ABORTION PROVIDERS.
(A) An abortion provider who is to perform or induce a legalized abortion, a certified technician, or another agent of the abortion provider who is competent in ultrasonography shall:
(1) Perform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman, using whichever method the physician and pregnant woman agree is best under the circumstances;
(2) During the performance of the ultrasound, display the ultrasound images so that the pregnant woman may view the images; and
(3) Record a written medical description of the ultrasound images of the unborn child's fetal heartbeat, if present and viewable.
(B) If a pregnancy is at least eight weeks after fertilization, then the abortion provider who is to perform or induce an abortion, or an agent of the abortion provider, shall tell the woman that it may be possible to make the embryonic or fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear and shall ask the woman if she would like to hear the heartbeat. If the woman would like to hear the heartbeat, then the abortion provider shall, using whichever method the physician and patient agree is best under the circumstances, make the fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear.
(C) Except as provided above in subsection (A), no person shall perform, induce, or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman before a physician determines in accordance with subsection (A)(3) whether the human fetus the pregnant woman is carrying has a detectable fetal heartbeat.
(D) A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined ten thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
(E) Subsection (D) above does not apply to a physician who performs or induces an abortion if the physician determines according to standard medical practice that a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with the section.
(F) A physician is not in violation of this Section if the physician acts in accordance with its mandates and the method used to test for the presence of a fetal heartbeat does not reveal a fetal heartbeat.
(G) A physician who performs or induces an abortion on a pregnant woman based on the exception provided in subsection (D) above shall make written notations in the pregnant woman's medical records of the following:
(1) The physician's belief that a medical emergency necessitating the abortion existed;
(2) The physician has determined that there is a fetal abnormality and has communicated that condition clearly to the pregnant women;
(2) The medical condition of the pregnant woman that assertedly prevented compliance with Section (A) above; and
(3) The medical rationale to support the physician's conclusion that the pregnant woman's medical condition necessitated the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death.
(G) For at least seven years from the date the notations are made, the physician shall maintain in his own records a copy of the notations.
SECTION 5. NO ABORTIONS ALLOWED FOR WITH THE SPECIFIC INTENT OF CAUSING OR ABETTING THE TERMINATION OF THE LIFE OF THE HUMAN FETUS.
(A) Except as provided in Section 5 as to Exceptions to the plain meaning and spirit of this law, no person shall perform, induce, or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the human fetus the pregnant woman is carrying and whose fetal heartbeat has been detected in accordance with Section 4 (A).
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SECTION 2: FINDINGS. The North Carolina General Assembly hereby finds, according to contemporary medical research, all of the following:
(1) A fetal heartbeat begins at a biologically identifiable moment in time, normally when the fetal heart is formed in during the early weeks of gestation - between 5-6 weeks of gestation.
(2) An unborn human being begins to move about in the womb at approximately 8 weeks of gestation.
(3) At 9 weeks of gestation, all basic physiological functions are present. Teeth and eyes are present, as well as external genitalia.
(4) An unborn human being's vital organs begin to function at 10 weeks of gestation. Hair, fingernails, and toenails also begin to form.
(5) At 11 weeks of gestation, an unborn human being's diaphragm is developing, and he or she may even hiccup. He or she is beginning to move about freely in the womb.
(6) At 12 weeks of gestation, an unborn human being can open and close his or her fingers, starts to make sucking motions, and senses stimulation from the world outside the womb. Importantly, he or she has taken 'the human form' in all relevant aspects. [See Gonzalez v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007).
(7) By 15 weeks (if not earlier), an unborn human being can clearly feel pain.
(8) The majority of abortion procedures performed after 15 weeks of gestation are dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures which involve the use of surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn child apart before removing the pieces of the dead child from the womb. The Legislature finds that the intentional commitment of such acts for non-therapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession.
(9) Abortion carries significant physical and psychological risks to the maternal patient, and these physical and psychological risks increase with gestational age. Specifically, in abortions performed after 8 weeks of gestation, the relative physical and psychological risks escalate exponentially as gestational age increases.
(10) "As the second trimester progresses, in the vast majority of uncomplicated pregnancies, the material health risks of undergoing an abortion are greater than the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term."
(11) As many as thirty percent of natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage.
(12) Fewer than five percent of all natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
(13) Over ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies survive the first trimester if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
(14) Nearly ninety percent of in vitro pregnancies do not survive the first trimester if a fetal heartbeat is not detected.
(15) A fetal heartbeat is a key medical predictor that an unborn human individual will reach live birth.
(16) The State of North Carolina has legitimate interests from the outset of a pregnancy in protecting the life and health of the pregnant woman, the life of the unborn child who is developing inside her womb, and the integrity of the medical profession.
(17) "Medical complications from dilation and evacuation abortions include, but are not limited to: pelvic infection, incomplete abortions (retained fetal tissue), blood clots, heavy bleeding or hemorrhage, laceration, tear, or other injury to the cervix, puncture, laceration, tear, or other injury to the uterus, injury to the bowel or bladder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other emotional or psychological problems. Further, in abortions performed after 15 weeks of gestation, there is a higher risk of requiring a hysterectomy, other reparative type surgery, or blood transfusion."
(18) In order to make an informed choice about whether to continue a pregnancy, a pregnant woman has a legitimate interest in knowing the likelihood of the human fetus surviving to full-term birth based upon the presence of a fetal heartbeat.
[These findings were accepted by the Mississippi state legislature, after consultation with medical professions. See reference provided]
SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS. As used in this article:
(1) "Conception" means fertilization.
(2) "Contraceptive" means a drug, device, or chemical that prevents conception.
(3) "Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.
(4) "Gestational age" means the age of an unborn human individual as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman.
(5) "Gestational sac" refers to the structure that houses and encompasses the extraembryonic membranes that envelop the human fetus and that is typically visible by ultrasound after the fourth week of pregnancy.
(6) "Human fetus" or "unborn child" each means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.
(7) "Intrauterine pregnancy" means a pregnancy in which a human fetus is attached to the placenta within the uterus of a pregnant woman.
(8) "Medical emergency" means a condition that, by any reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman that it necessitates the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death without first determining whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat or for which the delay necessary to determine whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat will create serious risk of a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions. A condition must not be considered a medical emergency if based on a claim or diagnosis that a woman will engage in conduct that she intends to result in her death or in a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.
(9) "Physician" means any person licensed to practice medicine and surgery, or osteopathic medicine and surgery, in this State.
(10) "Reasonable medical judgment" means a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician who is knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.
(11) "Spontaneous miscarriage" means the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy and the expulsion of the human fetus, typically caused by genetic defects in the human fetus or physical abnormalities in the pregnant woman.
(12) "Viability Rule" refers to the gestational age at which a prematurely born fetus/infant has a 50% chance of long-term survival outside its mother's womb. In Roe v. Wade, "viability" was understood to mean 24 weeks of gestation.
SECTION 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR ABORTION PROVIDERS.
(A) An abortion provider who is to perform or induce a legalized abortion, a certified technician, or another agent of the abortion provider who is competent in ultrasonography shall:
(1) Perform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman, using whichever method the physician and pregnant woman agree is best under the circumstances;
(2) During the performance of the ultrasound, display the ultrasound images so that the pregnant woman may view the images; and
(3) Record a written medical description of the ultrasound images of the unborn child's fetal heartbeat, if present and viewable.
(B) If a pregnancy is at least eight weeks after fertilization, then the abortion provider who is to perform or induce an abortion, or an agent of the abortion provider, shall tell the woman that it may be possible to make the embryonic or fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear and shall ask the woman if she would like to hear the heartbeat. If the woman would like to hear the heartbeat, then the abortion provider shall, using whichever method the physician and patient agree is best under the circumstances, make the fetal heartbeat of the unborn child audible for the pregnant woman to hear.
(C) Except as provided above in subsection (A), no person shall perform, induce, or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman before a physician determines in accordance with subsection (A)(3) whether the human fetus the pregnant woman is carrying has a detectable fetal heartbeat.
(D) A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined ten thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
(E) Subsection (D) above does not apply to a physician who performs or induces an abortion if the physician determines according to standard medical practice that a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance with the section.
(F) A physician is not in violation of this Section if the physician acts in accordance with its mandates and the method used to test for the presence of a fetal heartbeat does not reveal a fetal heartbeat.
(G) A physician who performs or induces an abortion on a pregnant woman based on the exception provided in subsection (D) above shall make written notations in the pregnant woman's medical records of the following:
(1) The physician's belief that a medical emergency necessitating the abortion existed;
(2) The physician has determined that there is a fetal abnormality and has communicated that condition clearly to the pregnant women;
(2) The medical condition of the pregnant woman that assertedly prevented compliance with Section (A) above; and
(3) The medical rationale to support the physician's conclusion that the pregnant woman's medical condition necessitated the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death.
(G) For at least seven years from the date the notations are made, the physician shall maintain in his own records a copy of the notations.
SECTION 5. NO ABORTIONS ALLOWED FOR WITH THE SPECIFIC INTENT OF CAUSING OR ABETTING THE TERMINATION OF THE LIFE OF THE HUMAN FETUS.
(A) Except as provided in Section 5 as to Exceptions to the plain meaning and spirit of this law, no person shall perform, induce, or attempt to perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the human fetus the pregnant woman is carrying and whose fetal heartbeat has been detected in accordance with Section 4 (A).
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