Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina Mark Robinson has been criticized for months by his Democratic rival and other opponents for seeking additional restrictions on abortion beyond current state law and for past comments berating women on the issue.
“Abortion in this country is not intended to protect the lives of mothers. This is about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down,” Robinson said in a Facebook video in 2019, a year before he was elected lieutenant governor in his first run for public office. Democratic candidate Josh Steinthe current attorney general and defender of abortion rights, showed the footage in ads since June.
Now Robinson is trying to change the broader electorate’s view of him on the issue by empathizing with a new commercial starting Friday, which describes his wife’s abortion decades ago and leaves the impression that he is comfortable with the state’s current 12-week ban on most abortions.
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The policy shift would be significant for Robinson, whose campaign said earlier this year that it supported banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Many women don’t even know they are pregnant at six weeks. Previously, Robinson has left the impression that he would support something even harsher, saying in 2020, for example, that “for me, there is no compromise on abortion.”
For decades, the Republican Party has campaigned to restrict abortion across the country. But how does the right to abortion boosted turnout for Democrats and appeared as a vulnerability for Republicans, Robinson’s approach reflects continued efforts by conservative politicians to appear moderate on abortion rights or avoid the issue entirely during the campaign – or otherwise risk losing in the ballot boxes in a post-Roe v. world.
The stakes are high in North Carolina, where races for state office are often close and the winner of the this closely monitored government campaign in November may have a lot to say about whether the Republican-controlled General Assembly will be able to advance its conservative agenda without resistance.
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The campaign ad on television and digital platforms shows Robinson and his wife Yolanda Hill holding hands. They discussed her abortion publicly in a 2021 videobut the potential audience is now much larger.
“Thirty years ago, my wife and I made a very difficult decision. We had an abortion,” Robinson says in the ad, adding that it was like a “silent pain between us that we never spoke about.”
Hill added: “It’s something that stays with me forever.”
“That’s why I maintain our current law,” Robinson continues, pointing to what he calls “common sense exceptions” for pregnancies through incest and rape and when the mother’s life is in danger.
Asked Friday whether Robinson was changing his views on abortion, campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said “the legislature has already spoken out on this issue.”
In May 2023, the Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto legislation that reduced the state’s ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy until 12 weeks.
If elected governor, Robinson “will work to make North Carolina a destination for life by building a culture that does more to support women and families, including strengthening foster care as well as foster care.” , Lonergan added.
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Stein’s campaign said Friday that Robinson’s ad was the “latest example of him shying away from his extreme and toxic stance on abortion.” Stein’s team claimed that Robinson would seek a ban on abortion without exceptions if he were elected.
“If North Carolinians want to know where Mark Robinson really stands on abortion, they should listen to every other comment he has made on the issue before today,” said Stein campaign spokesperson, Morgan Hopkins.
Former President Donald Trump sought a more cautious stance on abortion rights in this election, dodging questions and relying on his response that he brought abortion back to the states when he helped form the majority that struck down the constitutional right to abortion.
Abortion policy has been credited with reversing an early red wave last year and delivering victories to Democrats in the Kentucky gubernatorial race and the Virginia state legislature after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin failed to rally voters around a proposal to ban abortion after 15 weeks with exceptions.
Cooper was prevented by term limits from seeking a third consecutive term, but essentially handed the Democratic baton to Stein, a former state senator who once worked under Cooper when the politician was state attorney general.
Hopkins said in June that Stein “supports the Roe v. Wade framework.” Wade for the past 50 years that protects women’s reproductive freedoms and restricts abortion later in pregnancy unless the woman’s life or health is at risk.”
This situation generally allows abortions, in most cases, up to the point of viability, which generally occurs between 24 and 26 weeks of pregnancy. Robinson’s campaign has claimed that Stein’s views are extreme, saying he supports abortion late in pregnancy, in the third trimester.
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