The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision not to prevent Texas’s law outlawing abortion after six weeks of pregnancy is a win for the unborn and the pro-life cause. North Carolina’s legislature should follow suit to protect innocent lives in our state.
Since the court’s disastrous decision of Roe v. Wade almost 50 years ago, states haven’t been able to pass common-sense laws to protect babies’ inherent right to life. Pro-life laws in North Carolina, passed by the people’s representatives in the legislature and signed into law by the duly elected governor, have in turn been struck down by unelected judges who hide behind Roe’s misguided precedent.
The status quo is simply against the people’s will, while millions of innocent lives continue to be snuffed out. People forget that the United States is one of only six countries in the world that allows for abortions after three months, or 20 weeks. We are the outlier, not the norm.
Opponents of the Texas law, and the Supreme Court’s decision on it, say it is a way to overturn the Roe decision. To that I say: good! Roe was an extreme decision for the time — decided by seven men, as people often forget — because it completely took away from state governments the ability to legislate any restrictions on abortion. These common-sense measures include limiting abortions before 20 weeks or children being aborted based on their race or gender.
Because of Roe’s bad precedent, it has taken almost half a century for lower courts to uphold a state law that prevents people from aborting a baby simply because it has Down Syndrome. This bad precedent is long overdue to be reexamined by the Supreme Court.
The smart money doesn’t believe the Supreme Court will completely swing the pendulum the other way and outlaw all forms of abortion after conception. Rather, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is likely to return to the days before Roe, where the duly elected state legislatures could enact laws limiting abortion practices.
This would give state legislators in Raleigh, who believe in the simple truth that life is sacred and must be protected, the opportunity to pass the pro-life laws that the people of this state desperately want.
Should the Supreme Court undertake a re-do on Roe, the opinion likely will be written by female Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has a far different perspective than that of the seven men who made Roe the law of the land half a century ago.
When the decision does come, the people of North Carolina and their legislators should be ready to act quickly to protect the lives of the unborn.
Sophie Ross is president of the UNC-Asheville College Republicans. This column was also signed by Carson Foster, vice president; and Stephanie Giang, secretary/treasurer.
