The Women's Care Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 679

Short Title: The Women's Care Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Grafstein (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S679-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE A COURT TO TEMPORARILY DEFER THE IMPRISONMENT OF 2
A PREGNANT PERSON TH AT IS FOUND NOT TO B E A THREAT TO THE 3
COMMUNITY. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 148-25.2 reads as rewritten: 6
"§ 148-25.2. Care for female incarcerated persons related to pregnancy, childbirth, and 7
postpartum recovery. 8
… 9
(l) Sentence Deferred. – Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a t the 10
time of sentencing a pregnant female person, when the court 's sentence includes a term of 11
imprisonment and the court has determined the pregnant female person poses no significant threat 12
or danger to any person, to the community, or to any property in the community, the court shall 13
have the sentence deferred until at least 12 weeks after the delivery of the child or the end of the 14
pregnancy, whichever occurs first. 15
During th e sentence deferment under this subsection, the pregnant female person shall 16
maintain perinatal healthcare, treatment, and assessments and shall participate in education and 17
resource programs to the extent that these programs are available in the community or from the 18
Department of Health and Human Services. The pregnant female person shall report to the court 19
monthly via telephone and check in electronically through a website link providing confirmation 20
of perinatal he althcare and personal contact information and contact information of utilized 21
education and resource programs. 22
The court shall allow th e pregnant female person to be supervised on probation prior to 23
incarceration for at least a period of 12 weeks and up to a period of 12 months after delivery or 24
the end of the pregnancy, whichever occurs first, before the pregnant female person shall 25
surrender themselves to the Department of Adult Correction. If, upon being ordered by the court, 26
the woman fails to surrender themselves to the Department of Adult Correction , the female 27
person may be prosecuted for this failure to surrender in any manner authorized by law. 28
The court shall allow the female person to serve a term of probation prior to incarceration 29
under this subsection without the payment of fines, fees, restitution, and probation fees and shall 30
allow supervision to be conducted by phone or other electronic co mmunications. During this 31
term of supervised probation, the pregnant female person shall maintain perinatal healthcare, 32
treatment, and assessments and shall participate in education and resource programs to the extent 33
these programs are available in the pregnant female person's community or from the Department 34
of Health and Human Services an d shall provide monthly reporting of her per inatal healthcare 35
information to the pregnant female person's probation officer. 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 679-First Edition
The pregnant female person shall report the loss of the pregnancy for any reason to the court 1
and to the pregnant female person 's probation officer within 72 hours of the loss. The court's 2
jurisdiction during the period of probation shall be the same as se t forth in these circumstances 3
under Article 82 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes . The time spent on pre -incarceration 4
supervised probation shall be credited to the sentence or disposition imposed. 5
(m) Beginning March 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, every prison and local 6
confinement facility in the State shall report to the Department of Health and Human Services 7
all of the following information for that prison or local confinement facility during the prior 8
calendar year: 9
(1) The total number of female persons that were incarcerated. 10
(2) The total number of pregnant female persons that were incarcerated. 11
(3) The total number of female incarcerated persons that decline d pregnancy 12
testing. 13
(4) The total number of pregnant female persons that declined a deferred sentence 14
pursuant to subsection (l) of this section. 15
The report required by this subsection shall comply with State and federal law regarding the 16
privacy of patient identifying information, including at a minimum the requirements imposed by 17
the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996." 18
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to sentences 19
issued on or after that date. 20