Adam Hochberg: NCPRA Legislature Reports; True Rape/NC Abortion 2

In a debate that included unusual medical assertions and talk of promiscuity, lawmakers discussed the merits of spending tax money to help poor women pay for abortions. The state now puts about $1.2 million a year into a special fund for that purpose. Women can use the money if they meet one of five criteria, if their victims of rape or incest, if their health is in danger, if there's a fetal deformity, if the woman is mentally retarded, or if she's under 18. But in a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee, several House members said tax dollars should not be used to pay for abortions. Republican Henry Aldridge of Pitt County was among the most vocal. There are currently quite a few reports that show 71 percent of the people on the street are opposed to having the state paying for abortions. Even those people who favor abortion do not like the idea of tax dollars having to pay for it. The subcommittee has already recommended that the fund be cut from its present level of $1.2 million to just $50,000, and that the money be set aside only for women who are the

victims of rape or incest. But that doesn't go far enough for Representative Aldridge. He was part of an effort in the Appropriations Committee to cut the state abortion fund to zero. This is the public's money that we are spending and the public to the 10 of 70 percent do not wish their dollars to be spent on the results of sexual promiscuity often. The rape, incest, and life of the mother thing, that's a minimum dollars, and it is not our responsibility. Those comments from Representative Aldridge brought a strong reply from Wake County Democrat Dan Blue. Mr. Chairman, I invite the gentleman from Pitt County, I think Representative Aldridge, do I ask any woman who has been the victim of rape or anyone who has been the subject of incest, whether they consider themselves sexually promiscuous? I think that's an insult to the intelligence of the people in this committee. Representative Aldridge then took the floor again to defend himself.

I apologize for the implication if it came out that way that people who had been raped had been sexually promiscuous. The facts show that people who are raped, who are truly raped, that juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant. This business about people getting most medical people will point out to you that medical authorities agree that this is a rarity if ever. For the record, State Health Director Ron Levine confirms that there have been many cases in North Carolina of women becoming pregnant after being raped. An official of the National Organization for Women called Representative Aldridge's remarks in her words an insult, and Beth Ising of the National Abortion Rights Action League called them inaccurate and outrageous. The message that's being sent is that the woman is not the victim, rather she is the decider about her health. And what's happening in victims of rape and incest is that it's sexual acts going against those women's will, and what happens often is that there's a pregnancy results.

In part because of the outcry about Representative Aldridge's remark, Republicans dropped their effort to eliminate the abortion fund, although they're still pushing to cut it down to $50,000 a year. As for Representative Aldridge, he's standing by his remarks. He told reporters that he was referring to what he calls true rape, not cases of date rape in which, in his words, a woman is not really saying no. I'm Adam Hockberg in Raleigh. If North Carolinians who are concerned about abortion laws hadn't been paying attention to this year's legislative session, last week's remarks by Pitt County Representative Henry

Aldridge served as a wake-up call. During debate on whether tax money should be used to finance abortions for victims of rape and incest, Aldridge declared that women who are raped cannot get pregnant. The facts show that people who are raped, who are truly raped, the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant. Within hours, Representative Aldridge's remarks have been broadcast nationally. Angry telephone calls flooded his legislative office and women began protesting outside. Work-Tarland's pro-choice majority will not stand for elected officials, especially those who do not even understand basic anatomy, eliminating the fundamental freedom of choice. But the abortion debate in Raleigh concerns more than just Representative Aldridge's controversial remarks. Indeed, both supporters and opponents of abortion say this year could bring the most extensive rewrite of North Carolinians abortion laws since the procedure was legalized in 1973. Anti-abortion forces are counting on the newly elected Republican leadership in the House

to impose several new laws that would make abortions harder to get. Abortion is a violent, intrusive act, and in the world that I would like to say, it would not happen. Florida Thompson is a spokeswoman for North Carolina right to life. Her group is supporting a series of legislative proposals that would impose new restrictions on abortion. One would require women under 18 to get their parents permission before they have abortions. Another would cut the amount of state money available to poor women seeking abortions. But the most significant, according to Thompson, is the so-called Women's Right to Know Act. It would require women seeking abortions to receive information on abortion alternatives. And then, if they want to have an abortion anyway, they would have to wait at least 24 hours before they could do it. Every mother who is faced with a crisis pregnancy needs to know that there are alternatives, whether it be adoption, which has been coined the loving option, or whether it be to keep her child herself and raise them herself.

Abortion rights activists say the right to know act puts unnecessary burdens on women who want abortions. In particular, they're concerned about the proposed 24-hour waiting period for women who come to abortion clinics. Susan Hill, the president of a clinic in Raleigh, says that would require patients to make two visits on two separate days. And for those who live in far away rural parts of the state, it would require them to stay overnight in a hotel. All of that, Hill says, is unnecessary. Somehow, the legislators are assuming women don't know what they're having done. They're assuming that women haven't thought about their choices before they come to clinics, which certainly isn't true. And I think it really is insulting really to women in North Carolina that they somehow believe they aren't considering all their options before they obtain an abortion. Hill says the right to know act and the other legislation in the general assembly would have the effect of punishing women who want abortions. But for Loretta Thompson, the right to life official, the justification for the legislation, is obvious.

The woman's body was made to have a baby. That's the way God intended it. I mean, if we weren't made to have the babies, God wouldn't have equipped us with parts. On our next report, a visit to an abortion clinic to talk with women undergoing abortions and with the mother of a teenager seeking an abortion. I'm Adam Hockberg in Raleigh. I would go... For women walking through this door and this metal detector, today will be one of the most difficult days of their lives. They've come to the office of the Raleigh Women's Health Organization to get abortions. Today a woman named Terry will be among the first customers, and it's a day she's been dreading all week. It's something I can't get off my mind. I feel comfortable about it, because I know it has to for my health. I have to go through with this, but I'm not wild about going through with it. Each year, some 30,000 North Carolina women, such as Terry, have abortions.

But this year, there's a growing effort in the legislature to reduce that number. Lawmakers are considering a series of proposals that would impose new restrictions on abortion. The toughest restrictions since abortion was legalized in 1973. To Terry, those new government restrictions will be most unwelcome. That's where a lot of people are putting their nose in other people's business. All of these situations are different and should be up to the individual themselves. In the legislature, the effort to regulate abortion is being led by several Republicans, including for South County Representative Michael Decker. Decker says his goal is to reduce the number of abortions performed in North Carolina. We have seen abortion become a method of contraception. And I think that we need to turn this around so that women realize the seriousness of what they're doing, and that people use other methods to control pregnancy.

Representative Decker says he's especially interested in sending a message to teenagers that they should abstain from sex. That's why he wants to force teenagers to get their parents permission before they have abortions. Teenagers are going to know fairly quickly when the law is changed. And they're going to say, oh, I have to tell my parents when I get pregnant. Maybe I ought not to have premarital or unprotected sex. I'm hoping when you're ultrasound now, if you will, pull your gown up for me, please. Back at the Raleigh Abortion Clinic, officials worry that requiring parents permission could pose a hardship to young women who have poor relationships with their parents or who have become pregnant as a result of incest. And even in families that don't have those problems, some parents feel the teenagers deserve privacy.

This woman brought her teenage daughter into the clinic for an abortion, but she says it would have been okay with her if her daughter had come in for an abortion on her own. They have a right to choose if they want to tell their parent or not, because all children don't have a real good relationship with their parent, and if they choose to do it, then they should have a right to go and do it without a parent saying it. That'd be all right with you. If your daughter did something like that, you found out about it after the fact. It would be her choice, yes. Several women at the clinic said even if the laws are changed, they'll do whatever is necessary to have an abortion, even if that means going to another state or another country, some say that even try to find a doctor who could perform a black market abortion in secret. I'm Adam Huckberg in Raleigh.