NARAL Plays Politics With the Supreme Court, Women’s Health, and Children’s Lives | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Civitas Institute. The author of this post is Brooke Medina.

    Democratic politicians and left-leaning political groups have put on full battle array and are ready to launch a cacophonous assault on President Donald Trump's United States Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Coney Barrett is a successful, learned, and articulate woman; qualities that should elicit even a nominal, albeit begrudging, acknowledgement from self-described feminist organizations.

    NARAL, a national pro-abortion group that focuses its efforts on political activism, is helping lead the para-political opposition to her confirmation, utilizing donor dollars to demand that a Supreme Court nominee not be considered until after Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021.

    Juxtapose this stance to NARAL's 2016 position (below), when, on numerous occasions, they issued calls for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, to receive a hearing by the Republican-controlled Senate.

    NARAL NC, the state-level arm of NARAL, describes itself as, "a statewide organization that works exclusively to protect and advance the reproductive rights of all North Carolinians." NARAL NC has operated in North Carolina for years, endorsing political candidates, applying pressure and opposition to pro-life legislation, and receiving a substantial donation from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, according to their most recent 990 filing and the donor's website. The four years prior to 2019, they brought in a cumulative total of $195,090 in revenue, a stark contrast to the boon in funding they received from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation last year.

    Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is one of North Carolina's largest funders of progressive causes and political initiatives. In August, Civitas' Brian Balfour noted a recent contribution pledge the Foundation made to Gov. Roy Cooper's (D) "Task Force for Racial Equity and Criminal Justice." The task force is co-chaired by Attorney General Josh Stein (D) and North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls (D). The Foundation was also the primary backer of Blueprint NC, perhaps best known for its 2013 Blueprint Strategy Memo that vowed to "eviscerate the [Republican] leadership and weaken their ability to govern."

    The considerable connectedness and lock step that a number of North Carolina's left-leaning groups operate in is impressive and noteworthy. For example, NARAL NC's recent decision to join NC United for Survival and Beyond (NCUSB), a coalition of more than 200 other entities across the state, is an example of the camaraderie and teamwork progressive groups operate under, even when their respective pet causes aren't at the fore. For example, NCUSB's goals include a, "push for everyone to be released" from prisons and jails, a waiver for all tenants from rents and utilities, and elimination of right to work laws among several other items. Abortion is mentioned only briefly and seemingly secondary to the much larger platform items. NARAL NC's self-described mission is to "work exclusively to protect and advance the reproductive rights of all North Carolinians."

    NARAL NC also endorses political candidates and it's no surprise that they have lent their support to some of our states' most ardent pro-abortion Democratic candidates. According to their website, the list of endorsements NARAL NC has issued for the 2020 election season are based on, "Strategic districts and races where a pro-choice champion can make a difference; diversity of the candidates; and, for incumbents, votes taken on issues that will advance reproductive freedom for all North Carolinians."

    The list includes obvious choices, such as Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, as well as several state House and Senate candidates, such as incumbent Sens. Jay Chaudhuri and Natasha Marcus to Reps. Allison Dahle and Sydney Batch.

    NARAL NC is vocal about their opposition to a number of pro-life protections North Carolina has put in place. They refer to pregnancy care centers as "fake health clinics," dismiss bans on sex-selective abortions as, "nothing more than another attempt to intimidate doctors from performing abortions," and oppose parental consent laws, stating, "we should not be forcing young people to disclose to their parents/guardians about reproductive health decisions if they do not feel safe doing so."

    In addition to these policy positions, NARAL NC also opposes "conscience laws," which are protections put in place to prevent healthcare providers from being required to perform abortions should it violate their conscience and/or religious beliefs.

    In 2019, Civitas Institute polled North Carolinians on the issue of abortion and found likely voters are increasingly in favor of policies that protect unborn children, with 50% of those polled identifying as "pro-life." Civitas' Leah Byers analyzed the Civitas Poll data and found that even among the 40% that self-described as "pro-choice," were, "deemed to be much more conservative in their support for abortion than the mainstream media or abortion groups, such as Planned Parenthood or NARAL, would have you believe." She noted that even the majority of those that stated they were pro-choice opposed abortions after 3 months gestation.

    An estimated 61 million children's lives have been ended by abortion since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, according to aggregate data from Guttmacher Institute and right to life organizations. NARAL NC has spent years advocating for this practice to continue in North Carolina with as few regulations and as possible, at the expense of mothers and children. Nonetheless, thanks to the tireless efforts of organizations like Gateway Women's Care in Raleigh and Durham, NC, a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy is able to receive compassionate support and empowerment as they assume the role of motherhood.

    NARAL will likely continue to issue its misguided calls for abortion expansion in our state and nation, but thankfully public opinion, and possibly future Supreme Court rulings, are turning the tide in favor of both mother and child.