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North Carolina General Assembly overrode veto to enact law restricting transgender medical care and birth certificates

On July 29, 2025, the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Gov. Josh Stein's veto of House Bill 805, enacting a package of anti-transgender provisions by votes of 72-48 in the House and 30-19 in the Senate. The law bars state funds, including for state prisoners, from covering puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-transition surgery; requires that birth certificates reflecting a changed sex designation be issued only linked to the original certificate; extends the medical-malpractice statute of limitations to ten years for gender-transition claims; and requires students on school overnight trips to room according to sex assigned at birth. Stein, who supported other provisions of the broader bill, called the transgender-related sections "mean-spirited" before the legislature overrode his veto.

Jurisdiction
North Carolina
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 29, 2025, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override Governor Josh Stein's veto of House Bill 805, a broader "Prevent Sexual Exploitation/Women and Minors" bill to which the Senate had added a package of anti-transgender provisions. The House voted 72-48 and the Senate 30-19 to override, with Democratic Rep. Nasif Majeed casting the lone Democratic vote for override, providing Republicans the three-fifths majority required. The transgender-related provisions bar state funds — including funds covering state prisoners — from paying for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-transition surgery; require that any birth certificate reflecting a changed sex designation be issued only as a linked, multi-page document together with the original, unamended certificate; extend the medical-malpractice statute of limitations to ten years specifically for gender-transition-related medical claims; and require students on school overnight trips to be housed according to sex assigned at birth unless rooming with family.

Stein, who supported the bill's provisions addressing nonconsensual sexually explicit imagery, said he vetoed the measure because of the LGBTQ-related sections the Senate had added, stating "it is wrong to target vulnerable people, as this legislation does" and calling those provisions "mean-spirited." The ACLU of North Carolina said the law "impacts transgender and nonbinary people throughout the state." The bill was ratified as North Carolina Session Law 2025-84 and took effect the day of the override.

Why we recorded this

Equal-protection principles bar government from singling out people for disparate treatment based on protected characteristics like gender identity. North Carolina's legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to enact a law that bars public funds — including for state prisoners — from covering gender-transition care, requires transgender people's birth certificates to carry their original sex designation, extends the medical-malpractice window specifically for transition-related care, and requires students on school trips to room according to sex assigned at birth. The governor who vetoed the measure called it "mean-spirited" toward transgender people; the legislature overrode that veto anyway, writing disparate treatment of a protected group into state law.

Sources

  1. Gov. Stein called House Bill 805 'mean-spirited' toward trans people. Now it's law — WUNC primary accessed July 13, 2026
  2. North Carolina H805 | LegiScan — LegiScan primary accessed July 13, 2026
  3. HB805 Anti-Trans Bill FAQ — ACLU of North Carolina — ACLU of North Carolina secondary accessed July 13, 2026

See also