"Not a Dime's Worth of Difference"

Rep. Rick Glazier of Cumberland County made comments on the floor of the NC House last Thursday about the motorcycle safety bill which suddenly became an anti-abortion bill, and it's the best dissection of both the bill and the motives behind it that we've seen. The fact that Gov. McCrory just as suddenly developed a hard-on for it, and said he would sign it, makes Glazier's analysis all the more germane. We suggest you read all of Glazier's statement, but we excerpt some of it here:

...this bill emerges from yet another rewrite by moonlight to the early morning sun yesterday under the intriguing and wholly non-transparent title of the “Motorcycle Safety Act” with some minimal changes in wording, but as Rep. Ruth Samuelson conceded, “the same intent” as the widely criticized Senate bill [which McCrory piously announced he would veto]. 

The result, of course, is precisely the same as the Senate bill and no different than if the bill expressly eliminated access [to abortion].... 

...Not a dime’s worth of difference in principle exists between the Senate bill or one that directly bars reproductive choice and this bill—they all take a slightly different route, but end up at the same intended destination: the effective elimination of meaningful choice in this state. And, claims to the contrary insult the intelligence! 

The law of abortion is set out in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, where the Court established the undue burden test for determining whether a statute restricting abortions could pass constitutional muster. Under Casey, a law is invalid if it places an undue burden on a woman’s right to have a pre-viability abortion. An undue burden exists if the state regulation has the effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman’s choice to obtain that abortion. A state’s discretion to regulate on the basis of maternal health does not permit it to adopt abortion regulations that depart from accepted medical practice. 

In some quarters, these are known as constitutional principles. But apparently not on the floor of the NC General Assembly....

Today's Moral Monday event in Raleigh will focus on the rights of women with good reason.