- A bill introduced in North Carolina would authorize the use of force against
abortion providers and patients. - Proposed last year, the bill from Rep. Larry Pittman, a Republican, is unlikely to become law.
A bill introduced last year in North Carolina is receiving fresh attention after critics noted that it would both define abortion as first-degree murder as well as authorize the use of
The legislation, filed by Republican state Rep. Larry Pittman in February 2021, is extremely unlikely to become law.
"A lot of my bills have not even been given a hearing," Pittman, a conservative gadfly who is retiring from
That is true of HB 158. Republicans, who control the state legislature, have promised to take up further abortion restrictions in 2023, hoping by then to have a supermajority capable of overriding a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
A constitutional amendment would require the same three-fifths supermajority in the legislature before being put to voters in a referendum.
Pittman's proposal is more extreme than even the total bans imposed in other states. HB 158 would amend North Carolina's constitution to assert that life begins at the "moment of fertilization" — and that a fetus can be protected with violence.
"Any person has the right to defend his or her own life or the life of another person, even by the use of deadly force if necessary, from willful destruction by another person," the bill states.
—Bryan Anderson (@BryanRAnderson) July 19, 2022
Abortion is still legal in North Carolina
Abortion is legal in North Carolina until the fetus reaches viability and in some cases even after.
On July 6, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order protecting out-of-state abortion patients from being extradited, as well as banning state agencies from assisting other states' in prosecuting those who travel for the procedure.
"No bill related to abortion care as extreme as HB 158 has passed the state legislature in recent history, and we do not expect a bill like that to advance in the near future," Alison Kiser, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic, told Insider.
But, Kiser added, "this violent rhetoric by state political leaders perpetuates a chilling climate and encourages vigilantes to target and harass abortion providers."
History of violence
According to the National Abortion Federation, in 2021 there was a "significant increase" in assaults on abortion providers, as well as instances of stalking.
Since 1977, at least 11 people have been killed in attacks on abortion clinics.
In 2009, for example, George Tiller, an abortion doctor in Kansas, was assassinated while attending church in Wichita. In 2015, a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people.
In South Carolina, meanwhile, lawmakers on Tuesday debated extending criminal penalties — at least 10 years in prison — to those who terminate a pregnancy, equating it with homicide.
"If we would prosecute someone for shooting an infant in the face, we should prosecute them for torturing their child to death in the womb," state Rep. Josiah Magnuson, a Republican, argued, according to local television station WIS.