Key Point: “What did North Carolinians learn late on Wednesday when federal judge William Osteen Jr. allowed enforcement of the state’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy? They learned that health and life are not the most important matters to House Speaker Tim Moore and state Senate Leader Phil Berger. To Republicans Berger and Moore it is all about politics, the fall elections and their machinations to gain a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.”

WRAL: Editorial: Health and life taking backseat to politics in N.C. abortion policy

• In reacting to Osteen’s unsurprising ruling, House Speaker Moore mainly attacked Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, who appropriately recused himself from personal involvement in the matter after stating he opposed the previously unconstitutional state law. Berger, similarly took up a partisan cudgel. “Democrats’ position on abortion can only be characterized as extreme,” he said.
• Yet, if Berger and Moore are looking for extreme positions on abortion, they need look no further than legislation their fellow Republicans have introduced, which is still pending in the General Assembly and that they’ve not renounced.
• Republicans want the State Constitution (House Bill -158) to declare life starts “at the moment” of fertilization. Anyone who willfully tries or destroys a life is accountable for attempted murder. Is that what Moore and Berger want?
• Do they back legislation (House Bill 31) banning abortions after a “detectable” fetal heartbeat?
• Are these the “protection for the unborn” that Moore and Berger are promoting?
• If they don’t intend to take that path – and doubt they would without their much-desired veto-proof majority – why don’t they tell North Carolinians specifically what they want to do? The reluctance may be based on just how out-of-step they are with the state’s electorate. A recent WRAL poll revealed 55% of voters don’t want further restrictions on abortion while just 34% favor more restrictions.
• The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade immediately made abortion a key election issue in every congressional and legislative race in the state and nation.
• Well before they cast their ballots, North Carolinians have a right to know, and those seeking office have an obligation to explain in detail, what they want to do on this key issue.

###