Source: Editorial Board
Originally elected to the North Carolina State House of Representatives in 2020, Erin Paré is the lone Republican representing Wake County in the state legislature. Her political career has been marked by her support for legislation that focuses on right-wing culture war issues.
Paré was one of the primary sponsors of House Bill 574, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a bill that targets transgender women and girls and keeps them from being able to participate on female sports teams in North Carolina schools. She also voted in favor of House Bill 808, which bans gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers, for minors, even if doctors and parents agree that their child needs such care.
Paré also voted in favor of Senate Bill 49, the Parents Bill of Rights that many have labeled North Carolina’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill; the bill became law after Republicans overrode Governor Cooper’s veto. In addition to limiting discussions of gender and sexual orientation in schools, the new law also requires teachers to inform parents if a child requests to use different pronouns or a nickname at school. The law has also resulted in the end of a decades-long child sexual abuse prevention program and a drastic decrease in health screenings for kids in some school districts across the state.
If targeting children wasn’t enough, Paré also voted in favor of the 12-week abortion ban that Republicans rushed through the legislature in less than 48 hours. Paré was even named a conferee on the bill, and helped to craft the final version, which made it more difficult to get a medication abortion in the state, required more in-person counseling visits before getting an abortion, and created several new reporting requirements that could very well compromise patient confidentiality and provider safety down the road.
Paré’s support for an abortion ban isn’t surprising – every single Republican in the General Assembly voted in favor of the ban, after all. However, her support for Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson – a well-known anti-abortion extremist – does lead to the following question: what further restrictions on women’s healthcare might Paré support in upcoming legislative sessions?
Robinson, a Republican currently running to become governor, has said that if he’s elected and has a willing legislature, he wants to pass a ban on abortion with no exceptions. Robinson has also said that once a woman is pregnant, “it’s not [her] body anymore;” that school shootings are “karma” for allowing abortions; and that abortion only happens because women aren’t “responsible enough to keep [their] skirt down.”
Paré campaigned with Robinson and even called a speech Robinson gave – which started with Robinson shouting “abortion is murder” to the crowd – “outstanding and powerful, as usual!”
Her record of targeting women, children, and marginalized groups already speaks for itself; whether or not she adds the full abortion ban that Robinson wants to that record is up to the voters of House District 37.
Paré is running against Democratic candidate Safiyah Jackson. Jackson is a former educator and currently works for the North Carolina Partnership for Children, an organization that supports a network of early childhood organizations across NC.
