Press ReleaseSenator Thom Goolsby

(919) 715-252516 W. Jones Street, Office 2115

Raleigh, NC 27601

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Morgan Beam

July 27, 2011

Woman’s Right to Know becomes law after Senate veto override

Raleigh, N.C. – A bill that will inform and protect women grappling with unplanned pregnancies became law Thursday when the North Carolina Senate overrode Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto.

House Bill 854, The Woman’s Right to Know Act, requires a 24-hour waiting period for women considering abortions and ensures they receive information from doctors about adoption and other alternatives. Numerous states have similar laws.

According to the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Fiscal Research staff, the law will reduce the number of abortions in North Carolina by about 10 percent.

But the law does not prevent women from getting abortions.

“The governor was wrong to play politics with this legislation by pandering to the abortion on demand crowd,” said Senator Thom Goolsby (R-New Hanover). “The fact is the law will make abortions safer and rarer--two things everyone claims to support.”

“The Woman’s Right to Know Act ensures a fully-educated choice than with the current system, which allows women to be pressured into traumatic, split-second decisions,” Goolsby said. “This is a victory for women, a victory for unborn children, and a victory for the state.”

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