We know the progressive pro-choice women elected to the legislature are already hard at work for our shared values. Lillian’s List spent Monday afternoon with these women, talking about the state of reproductive freedom in North Carolina. Thanks to an expert in the field, we heard all about the current state of the law and how best to champion reproductive freedom. I am even more grateful for the courage candidates show when they decide to run for office when I think about how many barriers there are to accessing care.
Not one single law that has been passed to restrict abortion since it was legalized in the 1970s was based in science. Ninety percent of North Carolina counties have no clinics with the ability to perform abortions. And in every session since 2010 except one, a law restricting abortion has been passed. The current legislative leadership and majority seeks to deny access to health care for women at every turn. We are weeks in to the 2019 session, but have already seen several more extreme bills filed that are meant to penalize women and health care provides or make abortion harder to access.
But something has changed in the North Carolina General Assembly this year. Nine new progressive women who are champions for reproductive freedom were elected to the House and Senate by North Carolina voters, all of them proud Lillian’s List Featured Candidates. I was thrilled to see them and some of their longer-serving sisters at the legislature this week, and proud to learn with them and hear how they plan to be champions for the women of this state. I hope everyone in the Lillian’s List Sisterhood has a chance to see the courage, compassion, and resolve that I have seen in each of our incumbent women. In fact, you will have a chance to do just that at the Lillian’s List Legislative Luncheon on March 22, where over twenty of the progressive incumbent women will be in attendance. I know these women are ready to fight for all of us and I cannot wait to see what they can do!