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March Madness in North Carolina
Posted in: Elections, NC by admin on March 1, 2010
What a month we have had here in North Carolina. Working in reproductive choice means expecting the unexpected, but few of us expected the politics of Rep. Bart Stupak (the namesake of the Stupak amendment) to show up at our front door.
In the past three weeks, the town of Apex, the NC League of Municipalities, and Wake County have all decided to strip abortion coverage from insurance plans that cover public employees. As of right now, the fate of coverage for employees in the town of Cary, Cumberland and Mecklenburg Counties and for thousands of other women across the state who are covered by insurance through local government is in jeopardy.
We knew that something was up when so many places at once would decide to take away benefits from our hard-working public employees.
And then we remembered… anti-choice politics run deep in North Carolina.
No one embodies the measures to which extremists will go to deny women access to abortion more than Representative Paul “Skip” Stam (NC HD 37) also known as the “Prince of Pelvic Politics!”. In a creative but inaccurate interpretation of a court case, Stam has told local governments that they do not have the authority under state law to offer employee health insurance plans that cover abortion. Lawyers from the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the UNC School of Government all agree that they do have that authority.
But because anti-choice forces have threatened lawsuits to counties and municipalities that do not comply with their demands of cutting abortion care – even in the case of medical necessity – employee coverage is under fire.
If this turn of events has you as worked up as it does us here in Raleigh, let me remind you that your generous donation will help us ensure that pro-choice candidates will be supported and victorious!
This is just the tip of the dangerous and deceptively large iceberg that is Rep. Stam’s political agenda, who even voted against the Healthy Youth Act and is now working to block its implementation.
While the fate of abortion coverage across NC is unclear, one thing is as clear as ice – Rep. Stam must go! Donate now to help Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund unseat him and other anti-choice zealots in NC, SC, WV and VA.