Pro-choice advocates respond to abortion propaganda bill

From the good folks at NARAL Pro-Choice NC:

Anti-Choice Sex-Education Bill Passes the House, on route to the Governor’s Desk
NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina says Young People Deserve the Facts

For Immediate Release – June 27, 2013

RALEIGH, NC., This afternoon, the House passed SB 132 by a vote of 68 to 42. “This bill is part of an extreme anti-choice agenda by leaders in the General Assembly to ban abortion in North Carolina.” said Suzanne Buckley, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. “While the Governor and his allies in the House may claim that this bill is about education, the debate on the House floor yesterday and today have made it abundantly clear that lawmakers behind this bill are more concerned with advancing their political agenda than promoting accurate information in sex education. The fact that this bill never made it to the Education Committee is further evidence that it has nothing to do with education, and everything to do with an anti-choice political agenda.” Buckley continued. “Any claim to the contrary is disingenuous.”

This bill would amend the Healthy Youth Act, forcing educators to spread misinformation about abortion.  “We can all agree that young people deserve accurate information, especially in school.  Even in its current form, this bill would force teachers to lie to students about abortion care,” said Suzanne Buckley, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. In debate about the bill, pro-choice lawmakers pointed out that SB 132 never went to the Education Committee and that public comment was denied. “No teacher should be forced to lie to his or her students because of some extreme politician’s out-of-touch agenda” Buckley continued.

The bill is not about protecting or promoting our teen’s health, it’s about inserting anti-choice and medically unsupported rhetoric into our classrooms. SB 132 would force teachers to tell students, starting in seventh grade, that abortion is a risk factor for pre-term delivery later in life. “This statement is utterly false. No respected medical authority has found evidence that links abortion care to later adverse effects on a woman’s reproductive health and fertility,” said Buckley. “Young people need facts about their health, not political propaganda.”

The bill will land on the Governor’s desk in the next few weeks. “The Governor made a promise not to support any new restrictions on abortion access in our state. Now that this bill has passed and is headed to the House for concurrence, we at NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina and thousands of pro-choice supporters across the state will be watching to see whether McCrory will keep his promise, or turn his back on women and families,” said Buckley.

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