May 16, 2023
Lydia Taylor, President’s Brand and Marketing Intern
GUEST POST: When North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced he would be holding a pro-abortion rally to veto pro-life legislation on Mother’s Day weekend, I knew I had to do something about it. As the founder of the North Carolina Pro-life Force and student spokesperson for Students for Life Action, I organized a rally in collaboration with many other pro-life organizations to counter the Governor’s pro-abortion extremism.
On Saturday, more than 150 pro-life individuals marched against Governor Cooper as he hosted his own audience to veto the 12-week Abortion Prevention bill. The legislation he vetoed – while not perfect – prevents abortion after 12-weeks (THAT’S THREE MONTHS) and also provides essential funding towards pregnancy centers, foster care, and childcare. (Sadly, the CDC reports that more than 9 in 10 abortions take place by 12-weeks, clearly the bulk of lives lost to direct abortion.)
As Axios reports, abortions are currently allowed late in pregnancy in North Carolina: “Shortly after the fall of Roe, a federal judge reinstated the state’s 20-week ban, which had been blocked since 2019. Prior to that, abortions were legal in the state until viability, which is typically between 24 and 26 weeks.”
However, we know North Carolina now has the ability to override Cooper’s veto in the legislature, so as angry as we were at the Governor, we rallied with hope that the bill would still pass as the state currently allows abortions up to 20-weeks. We hosted six pro-life speakers including one post-abortive woman who shared how abortion hurt her and how vetoing the bill will hurt many more women by pushing abortion as an option.
I spoke about my battle to pass the first ever pro-life resolution at Campbell University and how life will win in North Carolina. After the speakers, I organized the group to march to the capital building, which was located behind the stage in which Gov. Cooper was speaking.
We were hoping to catch the governor by surprise and make him hear our voices. However, as we marched, police blocked us from walking on the public sidewalk in front of the capital. Not only that, a pro-abortion protester ran into our group and attempted to use her body to block me from leading pro-life chants and the march.
She was stopped by police, but unfortunately, we were forced to turn around and head back to our rally spot. As Governor Cooper’s event concluded, the pro-abortion protestors gathered across from us. They chanted, made vulgar gestures, and screamed at us. I led our group in chants like “Pro-life is pro-Mother’s Day” and “Pro-choice is a lie, babies never choose to die.”
As this went on the president of Planned Parenthood, Alexis McGill Johnson, was forced to walk in front of our group to leave the event. We chanted even louder so she would know that the pro-life movement will not be silent. As the pro-abortion supporters continued to chant against us, I spoke to them through my megaphone, offering help, and support to those who were pregnant and post-abortive.
We were approached by a man who was neutral on the issue of abortion and was stunned to hear that we work to provide support for women in need. Several of our group members had great conversations with him that changed his perspective on the abortion issue. Our group continued to chant and speak to the pro-abortion protestors until they all eventually gave up and left.
News stations interviewed us, including The New York Times. I concluded our event in prayer for the state of North Carolina and encouraged everyone to continue to fight for life because we are confident life will win in our state.
Now, we anxiously wait to see if Governor Cooper’s veto will be overridden, and we are prepared to fight against abortion until it is completely eliminated in North Carolina.
Stay tuned to the SFLAction blog and social media channels to hear what happens next!