North Carolina set for abortion proxy war as Democrats eye blue coup in 2024
Breccan F. Thies
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North Carolina is preparing for a proxy war on abortion in 2024 as Democrats seek to use new abortion restrictions to turn the purple state blue.
The foundations for the fight were put on display after the Tar Heel State’s General Assembly passed a 12-week abortion ban last week, setting in motion a failed political ground game led by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC).
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“Gov. Cooper’s tone-deaf veto of the bill and push to fight the override is more of the same pro-abortion extremism that has become mainstream for the Left and will prove to be a losing issue for Democrats in North Carolina and beyond in 2024,” Heritage Action for America Executive Director Jessica Anderson told the Washington Examiner.
The North Carolina Democrat needed to convince just one member of the Republican supermajority in either chamber to vote against an override. While he did not succeed, and the abortion restriction became law during an override vote late Tuesday night, Democrats are setting their sights on retaliation in 2024.
North Carolina has mixed its vote in the past several elections. It is represented by two Republicans in the U.S. Senate, with Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) winning a first term in the 2022 midterm elections, and has a Republican lieutenant governor. However, the state also has a Democratic governor and attorney general who both won their first and second terms in years when Republican former President Donald Trump also won the state.
With Cooper term-limited and North Carolina representing the only 2024 state with a Democratic incumbent governor in a state won by Trump, Republicans and Democrats both view the next election as having the potential to change the political trajectory of the state into the future.
With the new restrictions in place, the abortion issue is poised to play heavily there, with President Joe Biden running for reelection on a pro-abortion rights platform and Republicans looking to correct the abortion messaging errors made during the 2022 election.
State Democratic Sen. Rachel Hunt, who is running for lieutenant governor in 2024, told the Washington Examiner she believes there will be a backlash among North Carolinians in response to the recent abortion restrictions.
“I’m standing up for the moderate Republican women I’ve heard from who feel like the party has gotten ahead of itself, who feel like this bill was unnecessary and confuses a complicated process,” she said. “Twenty weeks was the law, and most moderates and independents were content with that. Twelve weeks feels like a big step toward zero, and I don’t know many women who are comfortable with electing folks who will move us to a total ban next session.”
Advocates for and against abortion rights are claiming their opponents are out of touch with the majority of North Carolinians.
Nearly instantly after the override vote, that was the message from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who called the restrictions a “dangerous bill.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to work alongside Gov. Cooper, state legislators, and Americans who are fighting to protect access to reproductive healthcare in the face of relentless attacks and will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe [v. Wade] for all people in every state,” she promised.
Similarly, Cooper condemned the Republican override, claiming “strong majorities of North Carolinians don’t want right-wing politicians in the exam room with women and their doctors.”
“North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on women’s reproductive freedom, and we are energized to fight back,” Cooper continued, claiming “women’s lives depend on” abortion.
However, Kelsey Pritchard, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America state public affairs director, told the Washington Examiner the Democrats’ “abortion-on-demand agenda” will be “political liabilities on the campaign trail.”
“Purple states reject abortion-on-demand up until the moment of birth and align with national polling that shows the majority of Americans want limits on abortion,” Pritchard continued, citing polls showing 61% of Virginians support a 15-week ban, while 62% of North Carolinians support their new 12-week ban.
Gubernatorial candidates Josh Stein, the current Democratic attorney general, and Mark Robinson, the current Republican lieutenant governor, also weighed in, with Stein saying Republicans “will keep coming until they completely ban abortion in every instance. We can’t let them.”
Robinson, on the other hand, congratulated Republican legislators for their veto override, stating, “While North Carolina Democrats have continued to lie about the ‘Care for Women, Children, and Families Act,’ Republicans have taken a stand to create a culture of life in North Carolina.”
Abortion became a hot-button issue in the 2022 midterm election, as some Republicans like Trump blamed the overturn of Roe and subsequent abortion restrictions for the unexpectedly poor showing for Republicans.
However, Anderson said the clear strategy for Republicans winning is owning the issue of abortion.
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“The lesson from the 2022 midterms was that conservative candidates must clearly articulate their plan and vision to protect life rather than shying away from the issue,” she said. “A majority of voters don’t agree with the Left’s extreme abortion-on-demand agenda that advocates for abortion at any point up to, or even after, the gender reveal or point of birth, which is evidenced by radical pro-abortion extremists like Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke losing their elections.
“Now we are seeing a new version of the same story begin to play out in North Carolina with conservatives in the General Assembly fighting to pass and successfully override Gov. Cooper’s veto of SB 20,” she continued. “Policies like SB 20 are the type of protections for babies and women that North Carolina voters want to see from their leaders and any eventual candidates in 2024.”