Candidates differ on abortion exceptions in NC Fourth District U.S. House debate
By Harlan Brown
April 23, 2010
RALEIGH, NC. Differences on abortion exceptions are evident in an excerpt of a debate among three candidates for the U.S. House seat for the North Carolina Fourth Congressional District. The excerpt, posted recently on the Internet, focuses on the issue of abortion.
The moderator of the debate asked the three candidates present about their position on abortion on demand and whether there are conditions where abortion may be all allowed. The three candidates participating in the debate were Republicans William (B.J.) Lawson, Frank Roche, and David Burnett.
Lawson said, "I cannot support abortion on demand." He said, "Abortion should be illegal, and it should be illegal except in the case of risk of death to the mother or in cases of rape or incest." He said, "We've let the Supreme Court go well outside of its jurisdiction in passing legislation like Roe versus Wade." He added that the primary focus of ending abortion should be at the state and local level.
Roche referred to Roe versus Wade as "settled law by the Supreme Court, and I agree that it's unconstitutional that they did so." Roche said, "There are some examples where I can think abortion would be allowed: incest, the life of the mother, rape. But basically, I want to see an end to abortion on demand."
Burnett said, "The only exception I would possibly make would be for the life of the mother, and that is almost unheard of. I don't even know if it's possible anymore." He said, "For rape and incest to allow the destruction of the unborn child would be just to commit another crime." He added that he supports amending the U.S. Constitution to ban abortion as was done with slavery.
To view the video of the abortion portion of the debate, click the link in the following image:
The debate was hosted by the North Carolina Freedom Project (NC Freedom), on March 20 at the Lighthouse on Tryon Rd. NC Freedom is a nonprofit organization dedicated to constitutional liberties, limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the cessation of fraud and corruption.
For a previous news story on the right-to-life issue in the NC-4 race, see "NC-4 candidates differ on right-to-life issue." The primary election is scheduled for May 4, 2010. Early ("One Stop") voting began on April 15.