A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT, unless there is a medical emergency, AN ABORTION FROM BEING PERFORMED AFTER the unborn child is determined to have a detectable human heartbeat.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑45.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14‑45.1.  When abortion not unlawful.
(a)	Notwithstanding any of the provisions of G.S. 14‑44 and 14‑45, it shall not be unlawful, prior to a determination by a qualified physician licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina that the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat, to advise, procure, or cause a miscarriage or abortion when the procedure is performed by a qualified physician licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina in a hospital or clinic certified by the Department of Health and Human Services to be a suitable facility for the performance of abortions.
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(b)	Notwithstanding any of the provisions of G.S. 14‑44 and 14‑45, it shall not be unlawful, after a determination by a qualified physician licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina that the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat, to advise, procure or cause a miscarriage or abortion when the procedure is performed by a qualified physician licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina in a hospital licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services, if there is a medical emergency as defined by G.S. 90‑21.81(5).
(b1)	
A qualified physician who procures or causes a miscarriage or abortion after a qualified physician determines that the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat shall record the findings and analysis on which the qualified physician based the determination that there existed a medical emergency as defined by G.S. 90‑21.81(5) and shall provide that information to the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to G.S. 14‑45.1(c). Materials generated by the physician or provided by the physician to the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to this section shall not be public records under G.S. 132‑1.
The information provided under this subsection shall be for statistical purposes only, and the confidentiality of the patient and the physician shall be protected. It is the duty of the qualified physician to submit information to the Department of Health and Human Services that omits identifying information of the patient and complies with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
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(e)	No physician, nurse, or any other health care provider who shall state an objection to abortion on moral, ethical, or religious grounds shall be required to perform or participate in medical procedures which result in an abortion. The refusal of a physician, nurse, or health care provider to perform or participate in these medical procedures shall not be a basis for damages for the refusal, or for any disciplinary or any other recriminatory action against the physician, nurse, or health care provider.
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(g)	The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Detectable human heartbeat. – Embryonic or fetal cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the heart within the gestational sac.
(2)	Health care provider. – As defined under G.S. 90‑410(1).
(3)	Qualified physician. – A physician who possesses, or is eligible to possess, board certification in obstetrics or gynecology, a physician who possesses sufficient training based on established medical standards in safe abortion care, abortion complications, and miscarriage management, or a physician who performs an abortion in a medical emergency as defined by G.S. 90‑21.81(5)."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2021, and applies to miscarriages or abortions caused or procured on or after that date.