The right to an abortion in North Carolina is safe, but not secure
North Carolina abortion rights supporters weren’t necessarily celebrating Tuesday night. If anything, they were breathing a sigh of relief.
One of their biggest fears this midterm cycle was the possibility of a Republican supermajority in both chambers of the North Carolina legislature. It would allow the GOP leaders to override Roy Cooper’s veto and pass extreme abortion restrictions and other laws that harm marginalized people in our state.
Republicans needed to flip two seats in the NC Senate and three in the NC House to get that supermajority. In the end, the party was able to reclaim a supermajority in the senate but fell short of the house supermajority by a single race.
In theory, we should be relieved. In reality, this is the political equivalent of bolting your front door with a twig (or a Cheeto) and calling it secure.
“For all intents and purposes, we have a governing majority,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Wednesday press conference. He’s right; if a single Democrat misses a vote, or if one of several anti-abortion Democrats sides with the Republicans on new restrictions, North Carolina’s already restrictive abortion laws could get stricter.
It means Republicans could play dirty, like they have in the past. In 2019, Moore attempted to hold a vote to override Cooper’s veto on a controversial state budget. The vote occurred while many of the state’s Democrats were attending a 9/11 memorial service. The remaining Democrats had to decide whether to walk out or stay and vote against the bill in less than a minute.
If the General Assembly doesn’t gut abortion access in North Carolina, there’s still a chance for the courts to do it instead. Republicans will gain control of the NC Court of Appeals and the NC Supreme Court after Tuesday’s election. Justices could make a decision on an abortion rights case, or it’s entirely possible they throw out the maps that made our state slightly less gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
What’s even more striking is just how few votes protected a state of 10 million people. Cabarrus County, a locale just outside of the Charlotte metropolitan area, elected Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams to represent District 73. It is the first time a Democrat has won in Cabarrus in 20 years. She won by a mere 400 votes. Those votes have, for now, thwarted a supermajority.
Other states, even traditionally “red” ones, made it clear that abortion rights are widely popular. In Michigan, the right to an abortion was codified into state law. In Kentucky, voters refused to approve an anti-abortion constitutional amendment. There were pro-choice politicians elected across the country, across varying levels of office. The reality is that if North Carolina held a vote, just like in Kentucky, it would also be likely to uphold abortion rights. Because of that, it’s unlikely that state leaders will put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in the next few years. It’s a cowardly move that supresses the actual will of the people.
It’s important to remember that North Carolina’s abortion access is not just about North Carolinians. As states around us pass more restrictive abortion laws and cut off access as early as possible, folks from Tennessee and South Carolina seeking abortion are forced to come here. Planned Parenthood, Carolina Abortion Fund and other reproductive rights organizations have reported a huge influx of calls and visits from pregnant people out-of-state seeking an abortion.
Officials at Carolina Abortion Fund pointed out what should be the most important takeaway of the North Carolina midterms: when reproductive justice can’t be achieved at the state level, we must look to our communities to get the health care we need and deserve.
“You have heard it before, but it bears repeating (again, again, and again): voting alone cannot liberate abortion, nor bring us true reproductive justice,” the organization said in a Wednesday blog post. They go on to remind us of the reality that this fight is far from over.
I’m not optimistic about the state of abortion rights in North Carolina. But I am optimistic about the individuals fighting to ensure everyone has access, even when it isn’t Republican-approved.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "The right to an abortion in North Carolina is safe, but not secure."
