Leaked ruling elevates abortion as issue for Democrats in Eastern North Carolina race
Former state Sen. Erica Smith is making abortion a central issue in the Democratic primary race for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, accusing state Sen. Don Davis of being anti-abortion because of his voting record in the legislature.
On Tuesday after the leak of a draft Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Smith called on the incumbent in the district, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, and organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus and AFL-CIO to pull their endorsements of Davis.
“Reproductive healthcare is on the ballot and Don Davis’ record proves that he cannot be trusted to meet this moment,” a news release from Smith’s campaign said. “You either support reproductive freedom or you support Don Davis. We hope that these individuals and groups will reconsider and come down on the right side of history.”
Smith called to voters’ attention that two years earlier, Davis voted to block taxpayer dollars from going to health care providers who perform abortions and voted in favor of a bill that requires a doctor to perform life-saving measures on any baby born alive because of a botched abortion attempt.
Davis has also been faulted for voting in favor of two Republican budgets that increased funding to anti-abortion pregnancy clinics, though he later voted to support Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto that blocked both of those budget proposals.
Davis has repeatedly denied that he is anti-abortion and has said as a member of Congress he would codify Roe v. Wade, something President Joe Biden called Congress to do on Tuesday.
When news of the leaked court decision broke Monday night, Davis took to Twitter and wrote: “Now more than ever we must protect fundamental freedoms like abortion and ensure all families have option to decide when and how to start a family. In Congress, I will fight tooth-and-nail to protect abortion rights and women’s healthcare.”
On Tuesday he issued another statement saying he would be an ardent defender of reproductive health, rights and justice and a champion for a woman’s right to choose.
“The November, we must elect a pro-choice Democratic majority and finally pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Each Woman Act to ensure everyone has access to basic healthcare and their fundamental rights,” Davis said.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 9:53 AM.