Natalie Murdock

North Carolina lawmakers, including Sen. DeAndrea Salvador and Sen. Natalie Murdock, have introduced Senate Bill 1027 to prevent utility disconnections during heat emergencies amid rising energy costs. Over 353,000 households faced disconnection risks in May, with vulnerable populations like seniors and those with chronic illnesses disproportionately affected.

North Carolina senators advanced House Bill 1104, which shifts psychiatric evaluations for suspects in custody from emergency rooms to jails. The bill aims to address safety concerns in hospitals and aligns with Iryna’s Law, which increased pretrial detentions and psychiatric assessments.

Supporters in North Carolina are advocating for state legislation and grant programs to reduce pregnancy-related deaths among Black women, citing a maternal mortality rate three times higher than for white women. The proposed measures include implicit bias training for healthcare professionals and expanding access to care, though legislative efforts face political hurdles. Most pregnancy-related deaths are deemed preventable with existing policies and funding.

North Carolina Democratic senators and advocates warned that access to contraception could be at risk, citing challenges to reproductive rights following the 2021 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision. They co-sponsored Senate Bill 413 to codify contraceptive access into state law, while a separate Republican-backed bill proposed defining life as beginning at conception, though it faced criticism and lacked widespread support.