How abortion rights groups and opponents in NC are preparing for Roe’s possible demise
Attempts by Republicans to restrict abortion in North Carolina that have been blocked — either vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper or struck down by courts as unconstitutional — will make an almost certain comeback if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
Now that the court is expected to do just that, it’s an open question how much the GOP-controlled legislature will try to limit abortion, and when those changes could be brought up for debate.
A draft ruling from the Supreme Court overturning the landmark 1973 decision that found a constitutional right to abortion was published by Politico on Monday and confirmed as authentic by the court on Tuesday. The draft majority opinion is not a final ruling and is still subject to changes. But the revelation that a majority of the court’s nine justices had signaled support for striking down Roe is prompting advocacy groups to begin preparing for what could happen next.
Tami Fitzgerald, the founder and executive director of the socially conservative N.C. Values Coalition, said if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, her organization would try to find consensus for the “strongest possible protections for both the unborn child and its mother.”
“The exciting opportunity in front of us is that, if the draft opinion holds, the outcome is that the North Carolina people will be able to decide the issue of abortion through their elected officials in the General Assembly,” Fitzgerald said in an interview. “Roe puts un-elected judges in charge of abortion policy, and we believe that abortion laws should be debated and decided by the people of North Carolina.”
Before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case currently before the justices concerning a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, another group run by Fitzgerald, the Institute for Faith and Family, filed an amicus brief with the court in support of the Mississippi law.
Fitzgerald didn’t say if she supported any specific bans passed in other states being replicated in North Carolina, saying instead that it would be up to state lawmakers to decide what kinds of abortion restrictions to pursue if Roe is overturned.
She pointed out that the Values Coalition has supported various anti-abortion bills in the past, including House Bill 453, which would have banned physicians from performing abortions because of a fetus’s actual or presumed race or sex, or a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. That bill, which passed the state House and Senate mostly along party lines except for the support of six House Democrats, was vetoed by Cooper.
Republicans have also tried making it illegal for medical providers to not treat infants who survive an attempted abortion — passing a bill in 2019 and encountering a veto from Cooper, then introducing a second bill along the same lines last May. That measure, Senate Bill 405, passed the Senate on party lines but was not advanced in the House.
There’s also a state law banning abortions after 20 weeks, which was found unconstitutional by a federal judge in 2019 but could be reinstated if Roe is overturned.
The aim for the Values Coalition, Fitzgerald said, is to support legislation that will eventually result in “every unborn child and mother (being) protected from the scourge of abortion.”
Democrats vow to fight for abortion access
Republican efforts to pass anti-abortion laws in recent years have been blocked by Cooper’s veto power. That could change after November, however, if the GOP is able to win three additional seats in the state House, and two additional seats in the state Senate, securing the party a legislative supermajority that could override vetoes.
“The only one way to protect North Carolinians from laws that will get in the way of their ability to make their own health care decisions is to elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Bobbie Richardson, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, at a press conference Tuesday.
State Sen. Natalie Murdock, a first-term Democrat from Durham, said she had never known a time without the federal protections of Roe, and predicted that Republican gains in the legislature this year could usher in tougher restrictions on abortion of the kind seen in Texas and other states.
“If we do not elect pro-choice Democrats in November, North Carolina will be the next Texas, passing extreme legislation that will roll back reproductive rights, justice, and abortion access,” Murdock said.
Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of reproductive health care services in the country, has been preparing for an outcome in which states are empowered to restrict or ban abortions. Even if restrictions aren’t immediately passed in North Carolina, an influx of people seeking abortions from nearby states whose laws would curtail abortions could put a strain on clinics in North Carolina.
Jillian Riley, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in North Carolina, said the organization has been working to increase capacity at its clinics by increasing hours of operation, hiring more employees, and upgrading facilities wherever possible.
“We are also working to educate folks, like we always have, on where they can access safe and legal abortion,” Riley said. “We will be ready to help our patients navigate any new barriers that may be put in place, and ensure that they have full and accurate information about their health care options.”
What public opinion forebodes for lawmakers
A new poll released by Meredith College, which surveyed 1,225 registered voters between April 25 and 27, showed that a slight majority of North Carolina voters, about 53%, said that state lawmakers should either “maintain the spirit of Roe v. Wade” by allowing abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, or expand access to abortion so that there are no restrictions on the procedure whatsoever.
Nearly 39% of voters, meanwhile, backed measures to restrict access, ranging from making abortion illegal after 15 weeks, making abortion illegal except if a woman’s life is at risk due to her pregnancy, or in cases of pregnancy caused by rape or incest, to outlawing abortion in all cases.
Another 9% of voters said they didn’t know what kind of policy they would support.
David McLennan, a professor of political science at Meredith College and the director of the Meredith Poll, said in an interview that the electorate being split into distinct camps on what abortion policy should look like means that it’ll be difficult for lawmakers wanting to restrict abortion to determine what kinds of measures would generate broad support.
Some segments of public opinion, like the roughly 10% of voters who want to ban abortion in all circumstances, have been steady for almost two decades, McLennan said. The remaining anti-abortion voters are split on what the timeframe should be when abortions are legal, or if they should only be allowed in cases involving rape or incest, McLennan said, since both of those options pose moral dilemmas for people.
“It’s going to take leadership in the legislature; in other words, whoever is going to be the champion for abortion laws in the legislature, is going to have to make a tough decision and really run the risk of not having his entire or her entire caucus come along with them,” McLennan said.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 4:53 PM.
