On May 13th, the North Carolina House of Representatives filed House Bill 1232, a proposed amendment to the state constitution which would declare human life as beginning at fertilization and hold any person using contraceptives that prevent the implantation of a fertilized embryo, such as IUDs, as guilty of attempted murder or first degree murder.
The bill states:
“New human life is recognized by the State as an individual person, entitled to the protection of the laws of this State from the moment of fertilization until the moment of natural death. Any person who willfully seeks to destroy the life of another person, by any means, at any stage of life, or succeeds in doing so, shall be held accountable for attempted murder or for first degree murder, respectively. Any person has the right to defend his or her own life or the life of another person, even by the use of deadly force if necessary, from willful destruction by another person.”
Beyond criminalizing the use of birth control, a right which is protected under federal law in Griswold v. Connecticut, this bill declares open season on reproductive freedom. Opponents argue that the bill’s language regarding the use of deadly force could create legal uncertainty and potentially embolden individuals who believe they are acting to protect an embryo to perpetuate physical violence against women.
There are inherent obstacles to implementing this bill that could only be overcome through gross violations of privacy – a citizen acting upon this policy has no way of knowing whether someone is using birth control, if they are using birth control for medical reasons, if they are using birth control and having sex, if they have had sex and an embryo has been fertilized, etc. Knowing full well that perpetrators do not have this information, it will not prevent harm being committed against women, but rather it becomes more probable that harm will occur en masse, and to women to whom the proposed bill does not apply, with perpetrators shielded by the state on the auspices of their own ignorance.
Those in support of the bill also seem to have conveniently forgotten that in their earnest effort to protect fertilized embryos, the murder of a woman seeking to prevent pregnancy also means the death of the embryo. If reverence for life is truly the predominant concern – it must follow that politicians take action to promote the quality of life for mothers and for children, through increased funding for maternal health, early education, childcare, and other programs. With North Carolina lagging behind on such initiatives, it is clear that protecting life is not actually the priority of this bill.
The extremist anti-abortion bill was originally sponsored by Republican State Representative Ben Moss (R-Richmond), before he removed himself as primary sponsor in a social media post on May 26th, in response to public backlash to the bill. House Bill 1232 is now sponsored by Republican State Representative Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort). This is not the first time Kidwell has advocated for fetal personhood, also joining Moss to co-sponsor House Bill 804 or the Human Life Protection Act of 2025, a bill intended to ban abortions in North Carolina from the moment of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest – the bill did not leave committee.
Several news outlets have reported Kidwell’s ties with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government extremist group that has been associated with the January 6th attacks on the U.S. Capital that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Although sources, following the Oath Keeper membership leak, placed Kidwell on the Oath Keeper’s roster since 2012, he refused to comment on the allegations.
While House Bill 1232 is not expected to progress to a vote, it is representative of the broader hypocrisy of opponents to reproductive freedom, indicating their intentions have nothing to do with concern for life, but rather about their ability to exert control. As we see more and more attacks on women’s health in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson, it is more important than ever that politicians commit themselves to protecting women and reproductive freedom at the state level.