North Carolina General Statutes 14-23.7. Exceptions
Nothing in this Article shall be construed to permit the prosecution under this Article of any of the following:
(1) Acts which cause the death of an unborn child if those acts were lawful, pursuant to the provisions of Article 1I of Chapter 90 of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 14-23.7
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- unborn child: means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-23.1
(2) Acts which are committed pursuant to usual and customary standards of medical practice during diagnostic testing or therapeutic treatment.
(3) Acts committed by a pregnant woman with respect to her own unborn child, including, but not limited to, acts which result in miscarriage or stillbirth by the woman. The following definitions shall apply in this section:
a. Miscarriage. – The interruption of the normal development of an unborn child, other than by a live birth, and which is not an induced abortion permitted under Article 1I of Chapter 90 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., resulting in the complete expulsion or extraction from a pregnant woman of the unborn child.
b. Stillbirth. – The death of an unborn child prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from a woman, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy and which is not an induced abortion permitted under Article 1I of Chapter 90 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. (2011-60, s. 2; 2023-65, s. 14.1(a).)