With Republicans pointing to eugenics, NC House OKs bill to further restrict abortions
The North Carolina House passed an abortion-restrictions bill Thursday that Republicans say would protect both civil rights and people with disabilities. The bill, which was backed by six mostly moderate Democrats, now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate.
If signed into law, House Bill 453 would ban physicians from performing abortions because of race or sex, or because the fetus is suspected to have Down syndrome.
The push for the legislation puts North Carolina at the forefront of a possible new frontier in the battle over abortion rights just weeks after a U.S. appellate court moved to uphold a similar law in Ohio. That case will now go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, with a 6-3 conservative majority, could also move to uphold the ruling.
Florida is currently considering similar legislation, and Arizona’s governor just signed a related bill into law.
North Carolina lawmakers have filed a flurry of abortion legislation in recent years. But this legislation stands out because lawmakers have framed the proposal as a civil-rights and eugenics issue. It’s titled, Human Life Nondiscrimination Act/No Eugenics.
“I would argue strenuously that we do not want to be the kind of society that not only discriminates but disposes of children because of the way they are created,” said Rep. Dean Arp, a Republican from Monroe.
Arp was among a handful of lawmakers in committee and floor debates this week who responded to Black lawmakers’ objections to the bill by explaining the meaning and history of eugenics, which has directly affected Black North Carolinians. Over more than four decades, the state’s eugenics program forcibly sterilized more than 7,600 people, with the most recent cases occurring in 1974.
Rep. James Gailliard, a Democrat from Nash County who is Black, called Republicans hypocritical for framing the bill as eugenics-related. Gailliard is a pastor and ultimately voted in favor of the bill.
“It’s an insensitive titling of the bill at a minimum,” Gailliard said in an interview with The News & Observer. “For them to transfer that language and make it about abortion is a real stretch, a real insensitivity.”
Four other bills that would restrict abortion access have been filed this year, including one bill that would penalize physicians who allow abortion survivors to die. That legislation was passed by the legislature in 2019 but ultimately vetoed by the governor.
Debate surrounding that legislation focused on the rights of a fetus. This year, lawmakers backing HB 453 have made it clear this bill is about preventing discrimination against a group of people, particularly those with disabilities.
Protecting those with Down syndrome?
Melinda Delahoyde, whose adult son William has Down syndrome, praised lawmakers working to pass the legislation in a committee hearing Wednesday.
“Will has done all these things with his life, and he has Down syndrome,” Delahoyde said. “Will Delahoyde is a product of the good that you have done, and the ideals and value of every human life that you have upheld.”
Opponents of the legislation said the bill would undermine the provider-patient relationship, and doesn’t actually combat discrimination as the sponsors say it does.
“The bill does nothing to address discrimination or the lives of people with disabilities,” said Katherine Farris, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “In fact, it only does one thing: It stands in the way of a person seeking an abortion.”
If the Senate passes the legislation, the bill would then go to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk, where it would likely be met with a veto. Legislators could try to override any veto.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Megaphone or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 4:38 PM with the headline "With Republicans pointing to eugenics, NC House OKs bill to further restrict abortions."
