WRAL: Editorial: Protect reproductive healthcare for North Carolina women

CBC Editorial

May 6, 2022

• North Carolina’s General Assembly, sooner than later it appears, will face the most basic of choices.
• It will be a test of its character and integrity.
• Does it stand for freedom, the access of women to the healthcare they need and does it represent the will of the majority of North Carolinians?
• It appears the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the current federal legal standard on abortion, as determined in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, and place that standard in the hands of the states. In North Carolina, that means it will be the state legislature that will determine the standard.
• North Carolina’s current laws are appropriate and adequate. Roe v. Wade already is a very restricted right to abortion – and a majority of North Carolinians support it.
• They respect the healthcare concerns, rights and dignity of women. The number of abortions is on the decline. The number of abortions done with pills now accounts for 54% of abortions nationally.
• The issue of abortion is, at its most basic, deeply personal especially for women along with their partners.
• No one in North Carolina should have any less freedom to make that decision in the future than they do today. Imagine if the millions spent on the politics of abortion opposition was, instead, spent on alternatives – including adoption and other services.
• In poll after poll, including one taken just days ago by Meredith University, North Carolina voters say the state’s regulation of abortion should mirror the standard set in Roe v. Wade. The Meredith poll reported – 53% support that standard while 39% — a 14 point difference – don’t.
• “Reproductive healthcare decisions are deeply personal and should be made by patients in consultation with their healthcare providers, not by politicians,” said a letter signed by Gov. Roy Cooper and 16 other governors earlier this week. The letter, to the top leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, called on Congress to act quickly.
• Here’s the reality: Since 1990, North Carolina has seen a dramatic drop — 26% — in the number of abortions performed. The number of teenage pregnancies in the state has dropped 21% since 2015. In 2020, pills accounted for 54% of all U.S. abortions, up from 44% in 2019.
• The most effective way to reduce abortions is by doing things that reduce the need – ready, easy and affordable access to health care, family planning advice and contraception.
• North Carolina’s legislature, at a minimum, should maintain the status quo. Women in North Carolina – and everywhere – should be able to make their own healthcare decisions.
• That is the American way.