Statement by PAI President and CEO Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins on the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision on the North Carolina Law Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks

We welcome the decision by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to declare the North Carolina law banning abortions after 20 weeks to be unconstitutional. This important conclusion comes one month after the Supreme Court agreed to review a challenge to Mississippi’s restrictive abortion law banning almost all abortions after 15 weeks. At PAI, we believe everyone, especially women and girls, should have access to the quality reproductive health care they want and need, regardless of where they live. For decades, anti-choice laws, like in North Carolina and Mississippi, have escalated abortion stigma and fueled reproductive health opponents in the United States and abroad — transcending borders and influencing anti-abortion sentiment around the world. The decision today brings hope to the brave reproductive rights advocates who are fighting to change abortion laws in their own countries.

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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.