Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)

North Carolina imposes a variety of burdensome requirements on abortion providers that are not imposed on other health care providers, including:

Restrictions on Where Abortions May Be Performed

Among the most common TRAP regulations are those restricting the performance of abortions to hospitals or other specialized facilities, which place medically unnecessary and costly requirements on doctors and can decrease the availability of abortion care for women. North Carolina has such regulations, including:

Any non-hospital provider that performs abortions during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy must be "certified" as an abortion clinic. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 14-45.1(a) (Enacted 1967; Last Amended 1997); N.C. Admin. Code tit. 10A, r. 14E.0101(1).

A clinic must hire a registered nurse with experience in "post-operative or post-partum care" to be on duty in the clinic at all times when patients are in the facility. N.C. Admin. Code tit. 10A, r. 14E.0307. Exceptions are not provided for times when nursing services are not being performed, or when physicians and/or other medical personnel are present.

A clinic must include at least eighteen individual physical components, including its own laboratory and a "nourishment station" for "serving meals or in-between meal snacks." N.C. Admin. Code tit. 10A, r. 14E.0207.

North Carolina requires that all abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy be performed in a licensed hospital. N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 14-45.1(b) (Enacted 1967; Last Amended 1997).

Restrictions on Who May Perform Abortions

North Carolina prohibits certain qualified health care professionals from performing abortions.

Only a physician licensed to practice medicine in the state may perform an abortion.  N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. §§ 14-45.1(a) - (b) (Enacted 1967; Last Amended 1997).