Triangle Right to Life: Hackney Hacks Protection for Women and Unborn Babies

For most of us, the sight of a pregnant woman – at the mall, strolling through the park, or at our church – elicits feelings of warmth, happiness, and peace. Doors are excitedly opened, helping hands outstretched, bus seats generously offered. The world tends to “stop” for just one moment to acknowledge this wonderful miracle – the miraculous gift of another human life growing right before our very eyes.

A pregnant woman is a beautiful sight. Despite the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy (and yes, they can be complicated), one might have to admit, upon seeing her swollen belly and contemplating the mysterious and wonderful life within her, that maybe, just maybe, at least for now, all is right with the world.

Imagine living in a place where pregnant women, instead of being honored, defended, and supported, are targeted, brutally murdered, and tossed into ditches, set on fire, or buried in backyards. Sound too grisly to even contemplate? You don’t have to, because here in NC, killing pregnant women has become an epidemic. In recent years, ten (10) pregnant women and their unborn babies have been barbarically murdered, their once life-giving bodies left lifeless and cold on street corners and ditches. These are the ones that have been reported and that we know about. How many other unborn babies have been murdered that have gone unreported? We'll probably never know that.

Think it’s a coincidence that North Carolina is one of only fifteen (15) states that refuses to recognize a second victim in these crimes? Unlikely. How convenient for the killers – to face only one charge of murder- instead of two. It’s not as though “Unborn Victims of Violence” laws are found only in conservative states in the South. Even one of the most liberal states in the union – California – has deemed pregnant women and their unborn children to be two separate victims and each worthy of protection under the law.

What does it say about North Carolina when a fifteen year old child who is eight (8) months pregnant is shot in the head in cold blood and left for dead at her school bus stop? Young Tiffany Wright and her baby never had a voice.

Where is the outrage? Where is the legislation? Would Tiffany and her baby still be here today if Deborah Ross, Chairwoman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, had chosen to give House Bill 890 - the Unborn Victims of Violence Bill - a hearing? What if Speaker Joe Hackney decided that both women and their unborn babies are worthy of protection in NC and made that a legislative priority? Sadly, we will never know. Year after year, Hackney ensures that The Unborn Victims of Violence Act goes to Deborah Ross’s hostile Judiciary Committee. In the name of "choice," Ross then dutifully kills the bill by not allowing a healthy debate or even a recorded vote. How can two individuals wield so much power in a democratic republic?

The abortion lobby has successfully stopped the bill in its tracks year after year with the lie that an Unborn Victims bill would threaten abortion rights. The public and its elected representatives deserve to know that every court to ever review these laws has determined they have nothing to do with abortion whatsoever. Just look at the other thirty-five (35) states with Unborn Victims laws if you are concerned about the right to abortion and you will find it remains safe and sound throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

Walter Dellinger, a former solicitor general with the Clinton administration who teaches at Duke University, says that, although he is a strong advocate for a woman’s right to choose abortion, he sees no major problem with the fetal-homicide laws. “I don't think they undermine Roe v. Wade,” he said. “The legislatures can decide that fetuses are deserving of protection without having to make any judgment that the entity being protected has freestanding constitutional rights. I just think that proposals like this ought to be considered on their own merit.”

Protecting women and their unborn babies has nothing to do with abortion. Sadly, if legislation protecting both mother and child is not passed in NC, our state will continue to be a safe haven for murderers.

For court decisions and a detailed list of Unborn Victims laws, go here.
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2009 Slayings of Pregnant Women

Tiffany Wright – (2009) Charlotte, NC / Tiffany was 8 mos pregnant