RALEIGH, N.C. — In recent days, there have been two big developments at North Carolina's state capital. The most recent advancement deals with an early agreement to propose a stricter abortion ban. A bill banning transgender athletes also advanced in the state senate Thursday.
Currently, someone can get an abortion up until 20- weeks in North Carolina, but today speaker Tim Moore told reporters that republicans reached an agreement that they should propose a ban on abortions after 12- weeks. Moore says there would be exceptions for rape, incest, and health risks.
Moore's press secretary also tweeted, "To be clear: Conversations within our caucus and between chambers are ongoing. While the Speaker has signaled consensus developing around certain aspects of the bill, there is no agreement on a final bill."
WFMY News 2 reached out to several Triad republicans. They either didn't respond to us or said they didn't know anything about a possible 12-week ban.
Guilford County democrat Pricey Harrison said she is disappointed that lawmakers want to restrict abortion access.
"This is a personal healthcare decision that should be made by the woman and her doctor, and I don't see any role for the government to intervene in that decision and I just see all kind of negative consequences on so many levels that it was really a gut punch to hear that rumor today," said Harrison.
A bill banning transgender athletes also moved forward Thursday, it would separate sports based on student's biology at birth.
The Fairness in Women's Sports act passed through the senate. A similar bill passed the house Wednesday.
Rockingham County republican Reece Pyrtle voted for the bill. He said the state needs to maintain fairness in sports.
"As a kid I competed in the little league basketball football baseball stuff, but we always were broken down between age groups and that was because we had developed differently, we weren't biologically equal," Pyrtle said "It's the same way I look at that with biological men competing against women it's not a level playing field, it's not fair."
Jennifer Ruppe with the Guilford County Green Foundation & LGBTQ Center says if this bill goes into effect, it will make life for transgender students more challenging.
"This impacts the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ people everywhere not just trans people, and not just trans students trying to play sports this is a direct attack on all of us," said Ruppe.
The bills that passed in the house and the senate are slightly different. Lawmakers will have to reach a compromise between the two, it's unclear how long that could take. Then the bill would head to the governor's desk.