North Carolina GOP Lawmakers Propose State Amendment Legalizing Murder to Stop Abortions

A GOP-proposed North Carolina constitutional amendment would make abortion completely illegal. The proposal defines a distinct and separate human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization and treats personhood as starting at that point. It claims the definitions rely on indisputable scientific fact but provides no evidence. Scientific consensus holds that pregnancy begins at implantation, and legal personhood for an embryo is factually disputed. By defining a fertilized egg as a person, the amendment adds language that would allow deadly force to defend a person’s life from willful destruction by another person. Abortion rights advocates say the amendment has little chance of advancing but should be taken very seriously.

"A GOP-proposed state constitutional amendment in North Carolina is seeking to make abortion completely illegal, adding in "protections" for people who commit murder in order to stop a person from obtaining the procedure. Currently, abortion is banned in North Carolina beyond 12 weeks of pregnancy. The proposed amendment, sponsored by Republican state Reps. Keith Kidwell and Ben Moss, Jr., declares that "a distinct and separate human life begins at the moment of fertilization," defining personhood as beginning at that point."

"Despite the amendment dubiously saying that its definitions are based on "indisputable scientific fact," the document's authors provide no evidence backing their claims. Indeed, the scientific consensus is that a pregnancy does not begin until implantation, and, even then, defining an embryo as a legal "person" with protections that outweigh the pregnant individual's rights is factually disputed, a far right talking point that threatens not just abortion rights, but also reproductive care in general."

"But the proposal by Kidwell and Moss goes further. By defining a fertilized egg as a person, the amendment includes additional language that would essentially legalize the murder of someone planning or participating in an abortion in the state. "Any person has the right to defend his or her own life or the life of another person, even by the use of deadly force if necessary, from willful destruction by another person," the amendment reads."

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