NC Republicans are hiding abortion debate from the public. What are they afraid of? | Opinion
Republican lawmakers don’t yet know exactly how they’ll change North Carolina’s abortion laws, but they’re figuring it out — behind closed doors. Working groups in both the House and Senate have been discussing potential new restrictions, now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Republicans are just one vote short of a supermajority.
A bill to limit abortion access — whether at six weeks, 13 weeks or some other point — could come as early as next week. Leaders from both chambers plan to meet privately to come to a consensus and roll out legislation once an agreement is reached, WRAL News reported, with House Speaker Tim Moore saying that the idea is to have very little public debate over where to draw the line.
Why?
Public discussion is healthy. It’s democratic. And North Carolinians deserve to know how — and why — laws are made, especially when those laws will fundamentally impact their lives. Instead, Republicans are hiding from it. What are they so afraid of?
Sure, most legislating happens outside of the public eye. The days of drawn-out public hearings and heated floor debates are mostly behind us. Lawmakers, after all, have drafted multibillion-dollar budgets almost entirely in secret, sometimes without even including members of the other party in those conversations.
Backroom dealings have long been the norm, but that doesn’t make it acceptable, especially when the stakes are so high. “This is the way it’s always been done” is not an excuse, because abortion is important in a way many other issues are not. No matter what Republicans choose, they will be stripping people of a fundamental right to decide what happens to their bodies and their lives, and that will have profound implications.
Being denied access to reproductive health care leads to worse economic and mental health outcomes, and North Carolina already has maternity care deserts and a poor maternal mortality rate. More than 1,000 health care providers across the state have signed a letter urging lawmakers to oppose additional restrictions on abortion.
Lawmakers have said that, no matter what, the law will have exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies. But that’s hardly a comfort when such exceptions are rarely granted, according to reporting from The New York Times. How, exactly, does one prove they are a victim of rape or incest? What exactly constitutes an emergency, and who should be allowed to define it?
These are the kinds of issues that could be worked through if the process played out publicly. But when the public is given the opportunity to comment on whatever legislation Republicans put forth, it will only be as a formality. The decision will already have been made for us.
By hiding from these conversations, Republicans are laying bare the naked truth: they know we won’t like what they’re doing, but that’s not going to stop them. Perhaps lawmakers just don’t care to hear what the public has to say. After all, polling suggests that a majority of North Carolinians do not, in fact, want tougher abortion restrictions — they would like to see abortion access across the state remain the same or expanded. Even voters in red states like Kansas have chosen to preserve abortion rights when they’re put directly on the ballot.
The worst part is that, in the end, the people most impacted by this legislation aren’t the ones included in the conversation. Of the 101 Republicans serving in the House and Senate, only 12 are women. That means the overwhelming majority of people making reproductive health decisions are cisgender men who will never have to bear the consequences. They think they know what’s best for us without even asking.
Abortion is a decision best left to individuals and health care professionals, plain and simple. In North Carolina, it looks to be a decision that will be made by politicians — in secret.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "NC Republicans are hiding abortion debate from the public. What are they afraid of? | Opinion."
