By Karen Cross, NRLC Political Director
Editor’s note. This appears on Page One of the August digital edition of National Right to Life News. Please share this packed 40-page issue with your pro-life family and friends.
With so much focus on the 2020 elections, it’s critically important that the 2019 elections don’t get overlooked. There remain two congressional special elections in North Carolina next month and there are regularly scheduled state elections in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.
Following is an overview of the 2019 elections:
North Carolina 9 Special Election
National Right to Life has endorsed pro-life state Senator Dan Bishop in the September 10 special election to represent North Carolina’s ninth congressional district.
There is a huge difference between the candidates on the life issue.
State Senator Dan Bishop opposes abortion on demand, and he opposes using tax dollars to pay for abortion. As he explains his position, “Dan is pro-life and will fight extremist Democrats’ to stop infanticide and late-term abortion on demand.”
In contrast, his opponent, Democrat Dan McCready, supports a policy of abortion on demand, which allows abortion for any reason, and he supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for those abortions.
Dan Bishop supports the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This legislation protects unborn children by prohibiting abortion at 20 weeks, a point by which the unborn child is capable of experiencing great pain when being killed by dismemberment or other late abortion methods.
As a state Senator, Dan Bishop voted for SB 359, North Carolina’s Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act that would provide medical care to a baby who survives an abortion. Dan McCready opposes requiring care for babies who survive abortions.
A link to a comparison piece can be found here.
The race is considered a tossup by Cook Political Report.
On the federal level, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are holding the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act hostage, refusing to allow the bill to come up for a vote.
Both pro-life Republican candidates in North Carolina have promised to sign the discharge petition, which would circumvent Democrat opposition and make a vote possible. This would bring the total additional number of signatures needed to advance the bill to fifteen.
North Carolina 3 Special Election
National Right to Life has endorsed pro-life state Rep. Greg Murphy, a physician, in the September 10 special election to represent North Carolina’s third congressional district. The district was represented by the late Walter B. Jones Jr., a pro-life Republican, from 1995 until his death in February 2019.
Dr. Murphy will face Democrat Allen Thomas. On April 30, Thomas prevailed in a six-way primary battle.
Cook Political Report considers this race “safe Republican.”
State Legislative Elections
Gubernatorial elections will be held November 5 in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
Both legislative houses are up for re-election in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia. New Jersey’s lower house (the General Assembly) is also up for re-election.
Emphasizing the importance of every vote, both Virginia’s House and its Senate have a one-seat pro-life majority. This means that if they lose the pro-life majorities, we will see a New York-style abortion on demand throughout birth and beyond law introduced, passed and signed by pro-abortion Governor Ralph Northam in 2020.
Much is at stake this fall. Find out where the candidates stand on life because life is on the line. Then vote.