RALEIGH
New laws take effect
Twenty-six new North Carolina laws took effect Friday, including emotionally fraught battles for laws on abortion, elections and in K-12 education, a bill of rights for parents and transparency for high school athletics.
The Care for Women, Children & Families Act stops abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy with limited exceptions. The state’s previous law stopped abortions after 20 weeks. There are exceptions through 20 weeks for rape and incest, and through 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies. There is a medical emergency exception.
A three-judge panel from the state Supreme Court on Thursday heard Gov. Roy Cooper’s challenge to No Partisan Advantage in Elections, one of the election law changes set to take effect. The new law would change the state Board of Elections from a five-member majority same party as the governor to an eight-member board with representation chosen by respective party leadership.
Elections Law Changes, another Senate bill, is also to take effect Friday. It strengthens the rights of poll observers; starts a pilot program in some counties to use signature verification software for absentee ballots; improves voter registration roll maintenance techniques; and closes a same-day registration loophole.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights enhances public school transparency, outlines the rights and responsibilities of parents and installs guardrails on curriculum dealing with gender identity and sexual orientation. Also, the law would subject state employees to disciplinary action if they attempt to encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from a parent.
The majority of the language in the DOI & Insurance Law Amendments/Revise HS Athletics, a Senate bill, is mostly related to the Department of Insurance. The biggest impact of the high school athletics changes would be weakening control by the N.C. High School Athletic Association in favor of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and state Board of Education.
Compiled by Publisher David Brown.