“It may feel that North Carolina is far from the epicenter of the fight for reproductive freedom and abortion access that we’ve seen play out in states like Texas, but that is a false sense of security.” – OPINION: The Robesonian

North Carolinians are making their voices heard in local papers and at marches across the state in response to SB 8 in Texas, which “essentially outlaws abortion in the state by empowering private citizens with $10,000 bounties to file devastating lawsuits against abortion providers and anyone ‘aiding and abiding’ an abortion.” While North Carolina still has safe and legal abortion access, the future of reproductive health care is on the ballot and here’s what North Carolinians have to say about it.

• East Carolina University Student: “If that ban gets passed in Texas, what’s stopping it from being passed anywhere else? It’s not about geography. It’s not about religion. It’s not about politics. It’s something that is human rights. It’s human decency.”
• Fayetteville March Organizer: “Women have been fighting for their rights, well, forever. Women fought for and won the right to vote, women continue fighting for the inclusion in the constitution …. Today, we are here continuing to fight for the rights given to women 48 years ago in the 1973 Roe v. Wade supreme court decision.”
• North Carolina Mother: “For me, it’s really just really important to see them raised in a world where women are viewed as equal. I’m a working woman, I’m an attorney, and a lot of who I am today is because of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I stand on her shoulders and the shoulders of many women before me. It’s important for me that my kids continue to live in a world where that is the norm rather than the exception.”

“The pandemic has put a strain on hospitals, forcing rural hospitals to close and overwhelming local hospitals, but Republicans in the legislature have still chosen to focus on restricting abortion access,” said NCDP spokesperson Rachel Stein. “What we’ve seen in recent weeks and on the streets this weekend were North Carolinians marching, standing up, and fighting against anything that would restrict or prevent access to reproductive health care. It’s clear that voters will hold Republicans accountable for their extreme, out of touch agenda at the ballot box in 2022.”  

In case you missed it, read two North Carolina women’s letters to the editor:

• The Robesonian: Opinion: We need to remember that reproductive freedom is on the ballot in North Carolina
• Fayetteville Observer: Opinion: North Carolina at risk for Texas-style ban on abortion access

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