AN ACT TO revise the criminal offense of obstruction of health care facilities.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑277.4 reads as rewritten:

§ 14‑277.4.  Obstruction of health care facilities.

(a)        No person shall obstruct or block another person's access to or egress from a health care facility or from the common areas of the real property upon which the facility is located in a manner that deprives or delays the person from obtaining or providing health care services in the facility.

(b)        No person shall injure or threaten to injure a person who is or has been:been doing any of the following:

(1)        Obtaining health care services;services.

(2)        Lawfully aiding another to obtain health care services; orservices.

(3)        Providing health care services.

(b1)      No person shall knowingly approach another person within 8 feet of such person, unless such other person consents, for the purpose of passing a leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest, education, or counseling with such other person in the public way or sidewalk area within a radius of 100 feet from any entrance door to a health care facility.

(c)        A violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. A second conviction for a violation of either subsection (a) or (b) of this section within three years of the first shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. A third second or subsequent conviction for a violation of either subsection (a) or (b) of this section within three years of the second or most recent conviction shall be punishable as a Class I felony.

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SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.