N.C.'s New Lieutenant Governor Attends Right to Life March
A poster for the North Carolina Right to Life March in January. Source.
On Saturday, January 16th, the 23rd annual rally organized by the North Carolina Right to Life organization (NCRTL) saw hundreds of North Carolinians against abortion gather at the Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Raleigh and walk to the Executive Mansion. The highlight of the event, as well as a major publicity draw, was keynote speaker Mark Robinson, the North Carolina Lieutenant Governor. Other notable figures present were 2022 US Senate hopeful Mark Walker, and President of NCRTL, Bill Pincus. Messages from the day included support for newly elected pro-life officials in N.C., criticism of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and discussion of various legislative impacts the organization hopes to make in the coming years. This march comes on the heels of the transition of power following the November election, ensuring this policy is quick to the N.C. General Assembly’s legislation table.
The North Carolina Right to Life organization was founded in 1973 and is dedicated to education, prayer, and policy surrounding abortion in North Carolina. Some legislative priorities have been the sates parental consent for abortion, the dramatic reduction of the state abortion fund, eliminating state-funded abortions, and the passage of Ethan’s law. Currently, the organization is advocating to overturn the 2019 Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act that Governor Cooper vetoed. Cooper cited the already existing laws that deal with this issue and called it an unnecessary intrusion between doctors and patients.
The GOP stronghold on the North Carolina General Assembly for the last 10 years has enabled a slew of particularly restrictive anti-abortion laws to be either passed or brought to the assembly floor. In 2011, H.B. 854 was passed, also known as the “Women’s right to know” bill. This bill mandates that a woman must voluntarily give “informed consent” 24 hours prior to getting an abortion. This means the woman must include information like the gestational age of the unborn child, the medical risks of both carrying the child to term and of having an abortion, and the information on nearby doctors and hospitals. Informed consent also requires that physicians provide information on state resources and legal issues, including child support, state healthcare and alternative options like adoption. A second law passed in 2015 that would attempt to criminalize any abortion after 20 weeks was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge. Further, a 2019 bill that was vetoed by Governor Cooper and has yet to be overridden would legally require doctors to treat babies born alive after an attempted abortion as they would any other patient.
In Lt. Gov. Robinson’s address, he indicated that his religious beliefs would impact his governing practices, while attempting to draw similarities between abortion and other current events. "We cannot say that 'Black lives matter,' or 'all lives matter,' or 'blue lives matter' until we say 'unborn lives matter,' because that's where we all start," Robinson said. Rally attendees indicated their support for new legislation pieces, including the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”
Despite the controversial nature of his politics, Robinson is the first African American to hold the office. He has publicly compared former First Lady Michelle Obama to a man and indicated a disapproval of the “socialist” policies of President Obama. One of his larger campaign goals was to allow North Carolinians to carry firearms publicly without a permit. His responsibilities as Lieutenant Governor include presiding over Senate debate and voting as a tiebreaker, but he will have minimal legislative powers, and has acknowledged the difficulty in passing his desired policies while working with a Democratic governor.
The March downtown went on, despite the dangerous number of COVID-19 cases in the state right now and the uncertainty regarding the future of the proposed legislation. The public flyer for the event asked people to wear masks and social distance, but according to reports, only about half the attendees wore masks. There were a few counter protestors but the event remained peaceful.