Protecting Bodily Autonomy in North Carolina
July 28, 2025
North Carolina Senate
Legislative Building
16 West Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
July 28, 2025
To the Members of the North Carolina State Senate,
On behalf of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, I write to you and your colleagues in the North Carolina State Senate to express our strong opposition to House Bill 805. We are deeply concerned by H805 and the harms it will cause to North Carolinians. This bill claims to be in the service of preventing sexual exploitation of women and minors, but it will in fact have the opposite effect by undermining bodily autonomy while also targeting and isolating North Carolina’s most vulnerable community members. We implore you and your colleagues to oppose efforts to override Governor Josh Stein’s veto of H805.
In Governor Stein’s objections and veto message he rightly recognized that H805 is a “mean-spirited” effort that will further divide communities by marginalizing vulnerable North Carolinians. This legislation, as Governor Stein asserts, also acts as a distraction from measures that will actually protect the health and safety of communities across North Carolina. As just one disturbing example, North Carolina has the largest backlog of untested rape kits of any state, but instead of passing legislation to address this critical public safety issue, precious time is wasted debating H805.
At Woodhull, we defend and protect Americans’ personal freedoms, which is why we are so alarmed at the way H805 attempts to strip North Carolinians of their civil liberties. This legislation endangers your constituents and must not be brought into effect. We urge you and your colleagues to stop H805 because it:
- Cruely ignores the unequivocal fact that transgender, non-binary, and intersex people exist by legally codifying their erasure.
- Fuels stigmatization of North Carolina’s trans community and puts their safety at risk by forcing them to out themselves whenever they must use their birth certificate.
- Threatens the lives of trans people within Department of Corrections facilities by limiting their access to lifesaving healthcare.
- Interferes with healthcare providers’ ability to perform medically necessary procedures for trans youth, adults, and others by creating unwarranted legal liabilities.
- Hurts children’s access to a rigorous, safe, and well-rounded education system by censoring reading and educational materials.
- Endangers trans, non-binary, and intersex students by turning educational settings which should be safe and welcoming for all children into hostile political battlegrounds.
By opposing H805, you and your colleagues will demonstrate your respect for the legislative process and your duty to protect all North Carolinians. As your colleague, Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, expressed: H805 must be rejected because it represents an attempt by some lawmakers to, “…impose their personal beliefs on other people’s bodies.” This is un-American and undemocratic.
Your consideration of these matters is very much appreciated.