Saturday, January 27, 2024

Editorial: Mark Robinson ‘doesn’t recall’ past statements on abortion. Here’s a reminder

2024/01/19
Mark Robinson speaks during a press conference in Raleigh 
 Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer/TNS

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has said he’d like abortion to be banned in all circumstances, including rape and incest. He has frequently likened abortion to murder and said that once a woman is pregnant, her body is no longer her own.

Now, as a candidate for governor, Robinson wants you to forget he ever said that. And he doesn’t seem to have much memory of it himself.

New reporting from CNN — which recently joined the growing list of national news stories about Robinson’s extremism — details how Robinson’s past statements on abortion contradict what he is saying now.

Robinson doesn’t want to talk about abortion much anymore, and if he does, he does so much more carefully. According to CNN, Robinson “denies ever supporting abortion bans without exceptions” and has stopped using what he calls “the a-word” in favor of more euphemistic words like “life.”

From the CNN article: “At a public event in August, Robinson said he didn’t recall making statements in support of a total ban on abortion and said that he always struggled on the issue.”

Didn’t recall? Well, here’s a reminder: Robinson once said “there is no compromise for me on abortion,” regardless of why or how a person becomes pregnant. He also said that if he were governor and had a willing legislature, he would pass a bill saying you can’t have an abortion in North Carolina for any reason. He also paid for his now-wife to have an abortion back in the 1980s, but wants to deprive others of that same choice.

That doesn’t sound like someone who has “always struggled” with his position on the issue.

Of course, Robinson is far from the only Republican who has quietly tried to soften their stance on abortion since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Ted Budd, for example, did the same when he was running for U.S. Senate in 2022 — largely avoiding the subject despite previously hinting that he’d like to ban abortions in nearly all cases. Republican congressional candidate Bo Hines scrubbed his website of all references to abortion while running in a swing district in 2022.

Let’s be clear, though: Robinson might be trying to ease up on abortion, but he’s nowhere close to seeming moderate on the issue. His office now says he supports legislation that bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions. That’s only marginally less extreme than banning it entirely. It’s still wildly out of step with the majority of voters, who were happy with abortion laws under Roe and don’t want to see them restricted much further.

Robinson can run from his extremist past, but he can’t hide from it. He may have “forgotten” where he once stood on abortion, but voters might have a much better memory.

© The Charlotte Observer



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