NC legislative leaders ask court to allow enforcement of law protecting unborn lives after 20 weeks

RALEIGH, N.C. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday in federal district court to defend the state’s pro-life laws.

In 2019, under the mandates of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court issued an injunction to halt enforcement of the state’s law protecting unborn lives after 20 weeks. The brief filed Wednesday argues that no legal basis remains for the injunction to remain in place now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe and Casey, and the state should be able to enforce its law and work to protect the lives of pregnant mothers and their unborn children.

“It’s time to allow North Carolina to better protect unborn lives and the health and safety of mothers,” said ADF Senior Counsel Denise Harle, director of the ADF Center for Life. “The state’s attorney general is refusing to do his job, which is to uphold the law and protect life, which is what the citizens of North Carolina have chosen to do through their elected lawmakers. We are urging the court to swiftly restore justice to North Carolina and allow the enforcement of its law.”

“Each year in North Carolina, abortion procedures end the lives of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 unborn persons,” the brief filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Bryant v. Woodall explains. “Although North Carolina law protects unborn persons from abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy, under now-overruled precedent, those laws are enjoined by this Court. Each day that the laws remain enjoined is a day that the State’s legitimate interests in preserving life are undermined.”

Anthony Biller, one of more than 4,400 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, is serving as local counsel for Moore and Berger.

ADF attorneys also represent Moore and Berger in another case defending the state’s pro-life laws, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Moore.

• Pronunciation guide: Harle (HAR’-lee)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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