How Can NC Become the Most Pro-Life State in the Nation?

Family policy matters in engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will for better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters. Tracy David Griggs, thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters for the second year in a row. North Carolina was ranked 28th in the US and a list of pro-life states on Americans United for life's annual life list. The rankings consider a wide range of policies affecting the lives of the unborn, the elderly, the disabled and the terminally ill Arkansas was ranked number one after enacting a remarkable 16 life-affirming laws leading the nation in 2021, a year that saw at least 85 pro-life state laws enacted across the country located Glenn serves as government affairs Council at Americans United for life where she works with legislators and pro-life and profamily groups to enact pro-life laws at the state and federal level.

She's here to help us unpack this year's rankings and what pro-life North Carolinians can do to help our standing in future years.

Katie Glenn welcome to family policy matters thinking I might start if you would by briefly explaining how you determine your life list sure that we're a whole life organization and he mentioned we don't ranked date just on abortion policy and we've actually looked at how it might change our rankings if we only focus on that and that we look at health and safety protection.

Bioethics and Reese research and reproductive technology rights of conscience and protecting the vulnerable. At the end of their lives against the assisted suicide and euthanasia we have in point value at that on each of these like little pieces of each of the topic and then we rank them up and we run every single year so I we've been doing this I think for about a dozen years now or very focused right now on the issue areas where we are experts of these are very tied to healthcare. We've looked at some of the broader things of what it means to have a culture of life. So pregnancy center support resource for pregnant and parenting women in family but for now it were very focused on on the law and in fact you don't get credit for laws that are enjoined so I think after hopefully we have a very positive outcome in the Supreme Court the summer the rankings could completely change will tell us about some of the states that saw some really big leaps in their ranking fully no elections have consequences. We definitely thought that in 2021 at the state with the biggest job was Montana. They had gridlocked government for 15 years.

In 2020, and the Republicans won the governor's mansion. They won the legislature and they passed six substantive pro-life laws so they jumped a dozen spot in our lives to add a past prohibition on telemedicine and chemical abortion.

They protected infants born alive during abortion and they were one of the only state that had abortion throughout pregnancy. They passed a law that would limit at 20 weeks, based on the child's ability to feel pain that was our biggest job New Hampshire. Similarly, there were another state that for a long time has had on the books that you could have an abortion drug, pregnancy, and they passed the 24 week law and got it signed by their pro-choice Republican governor delivered some of our biggest success stories last year is a pivotal pro-life legislation that you sang across states that really seems to be making a huge difference. I think the biggest thing worth seeing is states of really laser focused on what if we are not stopped by Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood versus Casey, what if we can limit abortion to when the child has a heartbeat or throughout pregnancy. Wyoming's governor find conditional law yesterday that would limit. Currently they have abortion the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. If that was able to go effect later this year. They will have virtually no abortions in their state. So I think the law is worth seeing that are poised to have the biggest effect on long-term are currently in effect and not something we haven't necessarily been able to stay in previous years, but because it we've all got nice.

The Supreme Court, I think it really can change is this what you're saying. The most from the US Supreme Court's consideration of the Dobbs case that states are beginning to look toward what will happen if Roe V Wade is a return. Yeah, absolutely. I think that is the biggest thing that states are really looking at is what if we have the authority to regulate abortion throughout pregnancy, not just in the second half like claim. Versus Casey required. The other big thing in North Carolina is actually very well fed up for this is that FDA decision from December 2020, 21, where they said Dr. no longer have to dispense the abortion pill in person. Under North Carolina law, doctors still do fear actually set up much better than many other states that do not require that under state law that are now rushing to get that done.

The FDA is not going to enforce their rule. Do you have any general ideas as to if the Dobbs case goes the way of pro-lifers which states are going to be in the best position.

The states that have life in the state constitution. I think will be the best settled because their state constitution already said we protect life throughout pregnancy and severe just waiting for that take effect right behind that organ to be those states that have passed what we call conditional on the other side of the trigger law but a lot of that is conditioned upon the court handing that authority back on right behind them is going to be laws deeply flawed, like heartbeat, you know, South Carolina past that last year. The states are limiting abortion much earlier in pregnancy and drawing attention to things like the fact that a child's heart is beating and we can see an ultrasound of the earliest six weeks really humanizing the child to go there going to be the state in the best position, but we think everybody else can catch up quickly. We all know that passing laws is not going to completely do away with abortion.

It certainly not going to change people's hearts overnight, but talk a little bit about how pro-life laws do impact people in their minds and their hearts on this very important issue that the particularly about abortion might want to make your friends, Dr. Michael new at Catholic University has done great research showing the impact that pro-life laws have changing people's behavior on both of us are not lawbreakers at heart. So something is prohibited. Were going to seek out other alternative and as much as we in the pro-life movement through our churches and drug communities can help provide those alternatives and resources to women, many of whom are feeling forced into these abortion we can save lives and we can help these women.

Texas alongside tapping their heart below last year allocated $100 million for alternatives to abortion back.

It's almost no attention. Most people don't know about it but they said you know we know there will still be women in unexpected pregnancies and we are to walk alongside them so they're working with local partners are working with private partners, nonprofit churches and community organizations to help those women also body of research that shows that when abortion is off the table. People make smarter decisions, the sexual revolution tried to decouple casual sex from its natural consequence which is human reproduction and they said, you know, if you don't want to be pregnant, you have to be pregnant that our core we understand how babies are made, and people make better decisions and safer decisions. If abortion isn't seen as the out so by Gov. 20 states in the next year to have laws where they have virtually no abortions in their state.

People are to make better, smarter decisions in the pro-life movement is going to be there to help and support these women and families. You guys really make sure that your you're also including information and policies about the elderly, the disabled and the terminally ill. Are there certain states that seem to do better at these categories.

Most state to prohibit euthanasia and assisted suicide. They realize that this degrades the medical profession and changes it from healing to killing and they realize that there is no ethical way to kill a person.

So there is no ethical way to assist in a suicide. And so, over 40 states actually do prohibit that the Supreme Court has said that they can and we encourage them to not just keep that law on the book by provide better resources through hospice and palliative care for our elderly family and friends and neighbors so that they don't feel alone and that's really one of our priorities, especially as we come out of this pandemic to say like look at the sacrifices that many of us have made to care for those who are more about vulnerable to this disease like how can we put that to the side and you know push them toward suicide. It just of the make sense.

Let's talk a little bit more about North Carolina so our ranking stayed the same this year over last 28 place talk a little bit about what that means for us will I know that North Carolina had some really good laws that have been on the books for a long time and any autocratic tough couple of years with Gov. Cooper who vetoed the prenatal nondiscrimination law that would protect babies on the basis of race effect, and the fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome last year and additionally there is an ongoing legal challenge to several of your informed consent laws and hope were hoping that this myth this summer so we can give you credit for those laws that you pass and hopefully if you've got favorable outcomes this fall. Next year you could come back in and passed more life-affirming laws, but it's just been a tough couple of years.

Politically I think that sort of called North Carolina at least on our our ranking. What are the strongest pro-life policies currently in place in North Carolina.

Would you say I think the first one is that y'all do have a 20 week pain capable law. Believe it or not, many states, including Florida, where I live, permit abortion further than that, either at 24 weeks for viability or throughout pregnancy. And so that's a really great thing you got very good laws on inspecting clinics. We did a 50 say overview of clinic inspections and we got unfortunately tons of reports from North Carolina. So your state has been actively infecting the clinics in identifying problems and hopefully holding those businesses accountable for the problem. You also make sure that North Carolina women are treated by North Carolina doctors. This is so important. Your laws prevent pill mills operating in other state, either from coming here states or for mailing drugs into your state because you required is a woman not just see a doctor licensed in North Carolina, but also that that person oversees the entire procedure and they don't just see her for five seconds, walk away, and then some nurse or some other employee is the one actually doing the abortion. You also good conscience laws that do protect doctors and nurses who don't want to participate in abortion and protect the two Shinto hospital there other healthcare businesses that don't want to participate in abortion so not all bad news for you got a good lot of good things and I think you know we could see a ranking jump quite a bit next year. So what gap do you look at North, Lawson, and see a glaring gap.

I think the biggest gap is that North Carolina, like many states have been really regulated fetal tissue disposal or experimentation.

It's not regulating egg harvesting destructive embryo research or emerging reproductive technologies. This is something that sort of snuck up on many of us. I think that would be a great place to start, especially if you have major research universities in your state, but something is definitely pay attention to. We are also encouraging every state to create private right of action which means that a doctor or nurse. The pharmacist who is asserting their right under that conscience can file their own walked it sounds crazy, but under federal conscience laws.

The bite administration get decide whether they want to pursue your case and if they do say no there's nothing you can do about it.

You don't have a private right of action and file a lawsuit so that something really encouraging states to do at the state level that you run into that problem God for bed in the workplace. You can stand up for yourself were just about out of time before we go. Katie Glenn, where can our listeners go to learn more about the positive pro-life policies being considered and passed around the nation and take a look at your life list. You can find everything you need about North Carolina and every other day@aul.org Katie Glenn with Americans United for life.

Thank you so much for being with us today on family policy matters. You been listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program employment to them again next week to listen to the show will log into one more about into families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across both are a lot of our website into family.ward that's into family.org. Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family