Off Track Again
May 11, 2011 - by
First it was protecting us against Shariah law. Then it was protecting our right to carry guns to parks and workplaces. Then it was designing roads. Now it’s dictating medical procedures to women and their doctors.
Republicans in the legislature are determined to do everything – but address North Carolina’s economic problems.
And I suspect a lot of women – and doctors – won’t like what the Republicans propose to do by changing abortion laws.
I’ve watched the abortion issue closely since Governor Hunt was first elected in 1976. For years, North Carolina was a progressive state on these issues. We allowed women on Medicaid to receive abortions far longer than most states. Hunt supported that; he reasoned that poorer women should have access to the same health care as wealthier women. Democratic legislative leaders for years took the same approach.
Now, Republicans are determined to reverse that. There’s just something about the abortion issue that turns small government Republicans turn into Big Brother.
Here’s a suggestion for Democrats – straight from Dick Morris, vintage 1984, when he advised Hunt to make abortion an issue against Jesse Helms in 1984. (You can read about it in my Hunt biography.)
Helms’ goal then – and the Republicans’ ultimate goal today – is to make abortions illegal, even in cases of rape and incest.
Take that to the voters.
Off Track Again
May 11, 2011/
First it was protecting us against Shariah law. Then it was protecting our right to carry guns to parks and workplaces. Then it was designing roads. Now it’s dictating medical procedures to women and their doctors.
Republicans in the legislature are determined to do everything – but address North Carolina’s economic problems.
And I suspect a lot of women – and doctors – won’t like what the Republicans propose to do by changing abortion laws.
I’ve watched the abortion issue closely since Governor Hunt was first elected in 1976. For years, North Carolina was a progressive state on these issues. We allowed women on Medicaid to receive abortions far longer than most states. Hunt supported that; he reasoned that poorer women should have access to the same health care as wealthier women. Democratic legislative leaders for years took the same approach.
Now, Republicans are determined to reverse that. There’s just something about the abortion issue that turns small government Republicans turn into Big Brother.
Here’s a suggestion for Democrats – straight from Dick Morris, vintage 1984, when he advised Hunt to make abortion an issue against Jesse Helms in 1984. (You can read about it in my Hunt biography.)
Helms’ goal then – and the Republicans’ ultimate goal today – is to make abortions illegal, even in cases of rape and incest.
Take that to the voters.