By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
January 20, 2023
North Carolina should become a “destination state for life.” That’s what Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson told a crowd of more than 1,000 Saturday as the keynote speaker at North Carolina Right to Life’s 25th annual Rally and March for Life in Raleigh.
He challenged the state to “be a leader in the charge to stand up for life and to ensure people don’t go to the abortion clinics — not because there’s a law — but simply because they don’t want to. Because North Carolina is a place that makes life worth living and life worth giving.”
The Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said believers can help bring that vision to life by surrounding those facing unplanned pregnancies with the love of Christ and the practical support they need.
“What a testimony that would be if those in crisis came to North Carolina for life-giving care rather than for an abortion,” Creech said. “That should be our heart’s desire.”
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in July the number of abortions in many southern states began to fall as stricter laws and even bans were passed. But North Carolina, which allowed abortion as late as 24 to 28 weeks, saw a sharp increase in abortion as many women from out of state came seeking the procedure. In August, a federal judge lifted an injunction blocking the state’s ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the law to go into effect, and making the state less of an abortion destination.
Still, more work is needed on the legislative front, Creech said. North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore said this month that lawmakers will work on a bill to further restrict abortion.
Robinson, who has admitted that he and his wife made the wrong decision to abort a child they conceived in 1989 before they were married, has become an ardent campaigner for life. Having grown up poor and with nine siblings, he says he’s grateful his mother chose life.
Otherwise, he said “I would not be standing before you right now, having made history in this state as the first Black lieutenant governor of North Carolina. Children would not be able to flip open the history books and see that a poor child, number nine out of 10 children from a small town in North Carolina, could grow up to be the lieutenant governor of this state, quite possibly the governor of this state.”
Robinson told the Right to Life crowd that “abortion is not compatible with this nation, the same way slavery was not compatible with this nation.”
“How can you have life and liberty if you end life in the womb, and do not give people their freedom after they’re born?” he said. “This nation is built on those ideals. And so, we have to stand up for life.”