Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic has released a new video highlighting State Senate Candidate EC Sykes’ anti-abortion views. EC Sykes is the Republican candidate for NC Senate District 18, composed of portions of Wake and Granville Counties.
The ad features a medical doctor who claims Sykes wants to “strip away reproductive rights” and “punish doctors.” The ad also warns that “anti-abortion politicians like EC Sykes will ban abortion if they regain a supermajority this November.”
Sykes has previously said that he believes abortion “should be outlawed in all situations,” suggesting that he would support a total abortion ban without exceptions. Sykes has also said he believes that life “begins at conception,” a policy preference that could effectively ban several contraception methods.
Sykes is running against Planned Parenthood-endorsed Democratic candidate Mary Willis Bode. Bode has been outspoken on protecting abortion rights, citing voters’ concerns about extreme abortion bans being passed across the country.
Bode told Politico, “People are seeing what is happening across our country. And they’re worried because they see themselves in these stories.”
Abortion remains legal in North Carolina up to the 20th week of pregnancy. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) has vetoed several pieces of anti-abortion legislation in recent years and said he will “hold the line to protect women’s reproductive freedom.”
However, if Republicans gain two additional seats in the state Senate and three more seats in the state House, they would have the power to override the governor’s veto and fast-track their anti-abortion agenda.
Abortion is on the ballot in North Carolina and EC Sykes has made his position clear.
