From Heather A. Benjamin, on Abortion Restrictions in SB 353.

Dear Speaker Tillis,

I write this as I sit outside the House chamber, waiting to enter the gallery. I left my law practice in Carrboro as soon as I got word this morning that our NC representatives had forced abortion restrictions into a Motorcycle Safety bill before the Judiciary Committee this morning, without any notice even to the full Committee. A Motorcycle Safety bill, of all things!

I just spoke with your deputy chief of staff Joseph Nolan. He assured me in no uncertain terms that SB 353, the Motorcycle Safety/Abortion Restrictions bill will NOT come to the floor of the House today, and that, unlike the Senate’s underhanded tactics last week, the public, and especially the rest of the members of the House, will have “plenty of notice” before the bill is brought to the floor, and ample time for “full debate.”

Speaker Tillis, we will hold you to that. But we’re also staying for this afternoon’s session, and will come back every day if necessary, because, as you can imagine, we, and many, many, many North Carolinians, have lost our faith in the legislative process in North Carolina, and are having a difficult time trusting anything our supposed “leaders” have to say.

Sincerely,

Heather A. Benjamin
Chapel Hill, NC