A Dark Week

On May 16th, the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Governor Cooper's veto; the monster abortion bill (SB20) will take effect July 1st. There are so many horrible elements to this bill: it's a 12 week ban on in-office procedures ("surgical" abortions--though that name has always been a misnomer; no surgery is taking place); a 10-week ban on medication abortion, THREE mandatory in-person visits to receive medication abortion, with 72 hours in between each visit; the formation of a committee by October 2023 to push forward ambulatory surgical center requirements (no clinic in the state currently meets all proposed requirements; potentially retrofitting/outfitting clinics will take time and money and could result in temporary closures, and Republicans know all of this). It's all designed to tighten the noose and make things difficult for no reason other than that these people want to enshrine shame into our choices and our lives and our bodies. We are particularly anxious about our out-of-state callers who have been relying on clinics in the Carolinas for accessible care.

None of this is fair. We shouldn't have to beg and cajole legislators to abstain from a vote to narrowly protect laws that already fail to meet our needs. We shouldn't have to worry that a lawmaker might feel snubbed enough by her colleagues to switch parties.

We have been completely underwater since Dobbs, and things just got even more difficult. The South Carolina House has passed the 6-week ban South Carolinians have rejected time and time again; it heads to the Senate next week for a final vote. Should access in South Carolina be curtailed dramatically by this bill, it is the most vulnerable amongst us in the Southeast who will suffer even more than they already are. We are exhausted; we are at our desks and ready to answer calls for assistance, because the only way forward is forward. We have said this before, but it bears repeating: abortion is as old as we are on this Earth. It is eternal. It has been sought out by people across time. It is ours. 

always,
CAF