Source: Editorial Board
North Carolina Republican state Senator Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) likes to portray himself as a moderate, which makes sense considering how his New Hanover County district is between Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately for his constituents and the rest of the state, he is anything but moderate.
In 2022, Lee ran on a promise that he would “oppose an extreme ban on abortion” after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal protections for reproductive rights. He was re-elected by a slim margin of 1,710 votes.
Coming into the 2023-24 legislative session, Lee had voted five times to restrict abortions in North Carolina since he started in the state Senate. This includes a vote in 2015 to institute a 72-hour waiting period for people seeking abortions, which is among the longest in the nation.
In the 2023 session, Lee voted two more times to ban abortion – first, he voted for the NCGOP’s 12-week abortion ban, then he voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill, turning his back on his promise to New Hanover County voters.
Only two months after the ban went into effect, the impact on women could already be seen across the state.
According to Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, the data available in the immediate aftermath of the ban suggested that the restrictions were “too much of an obstacle for many folks in North Carolina and those traveling to North Carolina to be able to overcome to receive care.”
Maddow-Zimet also said the data showed no increases in abortions provided in nearby states like Virginia, D.C., or Maryland that would offset the decline in North Carolina. This suggests that patients denied abortions in North Carolina had to seek help outside a formal health care setting or were forced to continue a pregnancy they did not want.
With his extreme abortion ban votes, Lee ignored the pleadings of health care providers and business leaders around the state who said the ban was bad for North Carolinians and the state as a whole.
Sen. Lee was a deciding vote on the bill that has imposed often insurmountable barriers to early abortions. In doing so, he voted in lock-step with far-right Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly to decimate reproductive freedom in our state.
Because of Michael Lee’s vote, reproductive health clinics could be shut down, making it especially difficult for those in rural areas, working people and young people to access reproductive care.
Republicans – all you have to do is listen to the words of party leaders like House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Moore, who personally supports a six-week ban, told reporters shortly after the House voted to override Cooper’s abortion ban veto that this is just the beginning.
“This represents the legislation that I believe this General Assembly can pass,” Moore said. “I can’t say what’ll happen two years, four years, 10 years from now.”
Berger had a similar comment following the override.
“I think we ended up in a good place for where we are right now,” Berger said.
As for Robinson, who is running for governor, in an appearance last year on racist Republican state Rep. Jeff McNeely’s podcast, he said that he would ban abortion entirely – with no exceptions – if it were up to him.
“If I had all the power right now, let’s say I was the governor and had a willing legislature, we could pass a bill saying you can’t have an abortion in North Carolina for any reason,” Robinson said.
Lee votes with Republicans 99.5% of the time, making clear that he supports banning abortion just like his party’s leaders.
And now that the Supreme Court has essentially given the legislature carte blanche to gerrymander however they please, the threat of further abortion restrictions becomes even more frightening. With Republicans able to redraw maps however they want, they will almost certainly gerrymander even greater supermajorities in the General Assembly, thus making it far easier to further restrict abortion, or ban it altogether.
Lee has put Republicans’ extreme political agenda before the personal freedoms of North Carolinians. He has shown his unwavering support for government overreach into our personal lives.
New Hanover County residents believe in freedom, including the freedom to decide if and when to start a family. Lee is too extreme for New Hanover County and he must be held accountable.
Lee’s opponent this fall is Dr. David Hill, a pediatrician who has cared for children’s health in North Carolina since 1994 and in Wilmington since 2002. He is campaigning on protecting access to reproductive care, contraception and IVF – an important distinction from his opponent.
