New regulations governing how North Carolina's abortion clinics operate are being quietly implemented.
The rules are taking effect two years after abortion-rights supporters complained loudly about a state law requiring clinic rule changes.
A state panel signed off on the new clinic rules in October. The regulations apply to all of the state's 16 licensed clinics.
Each clinic must now have a specially-structured nursing staff and a quality assurance program. They must give patients a phone number that will be answered by a person 24 hours a day. And a plan is required on how clinics would transfer patients to a nearby hospital.
Abortion-rights advocates originally said rules changes were unnecessary and worried they could shut down clinics. They now seem satisfied that the updates were not based on politics.
Anti-abortion activists argued the draft rules could have been stronger.
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