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North Carolina
Abortions in North Carolina dropped more than 30 percent in July, after ban took effect
Abortions in North Carolina dropped 31 percent in a single month after the state’s 12-week abortion ban took effect, according to a new analysis, the largest of any state.
After the law took effect on July 1, there were 1,310 fewer abortions performed in the health system that month compared to June, the analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights research group, showed.
Abortions decreased seven percent nationwide, the analysis found.
In the first six months of 2023, North Carolina saw a 55 percent increase in abortions compared to a similar period in 2020, as it was one of the few states in the southeast without significant abortion restrictions.
North Carolina’s law passed in May after state Republicans were able to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
A previous Guttmacher analysis, published last month, showed that abortions increased in states that were either close to or bordering those with abortion bans or strict limitations.
But as abortions dropped significantly in North Carolina in July, there wasn’t a corresponding increase in South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia or Maryland.
Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist and lead author on the report, said the decrease likely reflects fewer people traveling to North Carolina from out of state because of additional restrictions on top of the gestational time limit.
“That kind of sharp drop is not something that we saw in any other state,” Maddow-Zimet said.
The law requires patients to have an in-person counseling visit at least 72 hours before the abortion procedure or appointment to get medication.
For people traveling, the 72-hour rule means either making two trips to North Carolina, or it means having additional lodging costs to stay for multiple days. They would likely need to take time off work, and some might need to find childcare.
“And that really might be one obstacle too many for people in order to be able to actually access care. And then coupled with that, the fact we’re not seeing an increase in neighboring states makes us concerned about whether people are able to access care,” Maddow-Zimet said.
More than a dozen states have either banned or severely restricted abortions in the wake of the Dobbs decision last year that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Guttmacher’s monthly data analysis doesn’t yet take into account the impact of South Carolina’s six-week ban, as well as Indiana’s near-total ban, both of which took effect in August.
Maddow-Zimet said he anticipates the South Carolina ban will likely have a significant impact on abortion access across the southeast, especially in conjunction with North Carolina’s law.
Jonas Swartz, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Duke Health in Durham, said the law puts a strain on providers as well, who now have to find appointments for patients who need twice as many visits.
“All the clinics were scrambling to figure out, how do you fit these patients here for a medically unnecessary counseling visit into the number of clinic slots that you already have? Or how do we expand our clinic slots to accommodate those counseling visits?” Swartz said.
“Any talk about how people are still able to access care up to 12 weeks, needs to come with a major asterisk that [the law] has made care much more difficult to access even before 12 weeks,” he added.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — The North Carolina Zoo is celebrating 50 years.
Located in Asheboro, the zoo houses about 1,700 animals and over 250 species primarily from Africa and North America.
On social media, NC Zoo wrote Friday:
“Throughout our history, we’ve been home to a diverse array of remarkable animals, dedicated keepers, and passionate employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Join us in honoring this milestone by visiting the Zoo in 2024!”
The Zoo also mentioned the Zoo’s first animals, which were two Galapagos tortoises named Tort and Retort.
The post said in part: “These two tortoises symbolize the early days of the North Carolina Zoo and are cherished deeply in our hearts.”
The North Carolina Zoo is one of two state-supported zoos in the country. The other is the Minnesota Zoo.
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
North Carolina
NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank
With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region.
MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.
A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous.
More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?
North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous
According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are:
- Louisiana – 7.55/10
- California – 7.21/10
- New Mexico – 6.74/10
- Hawaii – 6.73/10
- Delaware – 6.67/10
- New Jersey – 6.53/10
- Mississippi – 6.47/10
- North Carolina – 6.39/10
- Massachusetts – 6.33/10
- Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10
According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.
For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.
The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.
More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?
Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked.
Brunswick County
Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
New Hanover County
Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
Pender County
Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.
Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.
Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.
As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.
Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.
Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.
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