Governor Josh Stein Announces Executive Order Protecting Women’s Reproductive Freedom & Privacy

Today in Charlotte, Governor Josh Stein announced an executive order reaffirming his commitment to protect women's reproductive freedom. The executive order directs cabinet agencies to safeguard medical privacy, ensures women receive accurate information about their pregnancies, and protects doctors providing lawful reproductive health care.

"Our state has seen alarming attacks on women's reproductive rights over the past few years, and I remain committed to doing everything in my power to protect women's freedoms and their privacy," said Governor Josh Stein. "I am directing my cabinet agencies to take specific action to protect women and health care providers from extreme anti-reproductive freedom laws."

Governor Josh Stein's executive order contains several main provisions:

• Directing cabinet agencies to pursue opportunities to protect medical professionals providing lawful reproductive health care services and patients obtaining lawful reproductive health care services in North Carolina.
• Directing cabinet agencies not to cooperate with efforts to impose penalties, including investigation or prosecution, on medical professionals providing lawful reproductive health care services or patients obtaining lawful reproductive health care.
• Directing cabinet agencies to protect women's medical privacy by reviewing and, if necessary, revising policies about the records and data they collect related to a woman's reproductive health care
• Directing DHHS to provide information about the differences between healthcare providers and other entities that offer services to pregnant women-including differences in available services and applicable patient privacy laws-on their printed and online materials.
• Directing DHHS to take appropriate and feasible measures to ensure North Carolinians have reliable, consistent access to safe and legal reproductive health care medications and birth control.

Click here to read the executive order.