Sen. Everitt files bill in North Carolina Senate to protect assisted reproductive technology access

A new bill filed by State Sen. Terence Everitt in the North Carolina Senate seeks to protect patient rights to assisted reproductive technology and support maternal health programs, according to the North Carolina State Senate.

The bill, filed as SB 383 on March 20 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘Right to IVF.’

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill safeguards the right to access assisted reproductive technology in North Carolina, ensuring that neither the state nor its political subdivisions can prohibit or unreasonably limit these technologies. It affirms the right of patients to utilize such treatments, protects health care providers offering evidence-based information, and performing the procedures. Additionally, it declares a fertilized human egg or human embryo outside the uterus is not considered a human being under state law. Effective July 1, 2025, the bill appropriates $500,000 annually from the General Fund to boost Medicaid maternal support services, matching $913,000 in federal funds each year of the 2025-27 biennium for the Baby Love Program.

A related bill, HB 473, was also filed in the North Carolina House, introduced by Rep. Beth Helfrich (and three others) on March 20, 2025.

Of the three sponsors of this bill, Lisa Grafstein proposed the most bills (25) during the 2025 regular session.

Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.

Everitt graduated from Rutgers University in 1997 with a BA and again in 2001 from Columbus School of Law with a JD.

Everitt, a Democrat, was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2025 to represent the state’s 18th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Mary Wills Bode.