On Thursday, January 16th, at a press conference in Charlotte, newly elected Governor Josh Stein issued an Executive Order in which he declares that the state of North Carolina will not comply with other state’s investigations where lawful abortions have been provided in North Carolina.
This Executive Order, one of Governor Stein’s first, comes just a year after the Legislature passed a very comprehensive pro-life law. While the law is astep the right direction, it only protects a preborn child after 12 weeks; thus North Carolina still has one of the least restrictive life protections in the Southeast.
In his statement regarding the Order, Governor Stein said, “Our state has seen alarming attacks on women’s reproductive rights over the past few years, and I remain committed to doing everything in my power to protect women’s freedoms and their privacy. I am directing my cabinet agencies to take specific action to protect women and health care providers from extreme anti-reproductive freedom laws.”
This statement and order seems to follow current state law, but tragically fails to recognize the sanctity of every human life and the inherent dignity of the preborn child in their mother’s womb. By “Directing cabinet agencies not to cooperate with efforts to impose penalties” from other states, Governor Stein is showing his support for North Carolina abortion providers and saying to abortion-minded women across the Southeast that North Carolina can be an abortion destination state for them during the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy.
It seems that the overall message of this order reinforces the role of the executive branch to enforce the laws of our state- which also means not holding people criminally or civilly liable if their acts in North Carolina are lawful. Most troubling is the fact that it is lawful in our state to take the lives of innocent unborn human beings.
NC Family and our allies will continue to work to help ensure that every human life is safe in our state by advancing legislation reinforcing the sacredness of life and keeping you informed as we continue to study and assess the full implications of the Executive Order.