As an unabashedly pro-life woman, I have no problem with laying my cards on the table: I welcome the day when one of society’s most vulnerable populations – unborn children – are afforded their constitutional (and natural) right to life protections. I am also committed to advocating for a culture that empowers women and men to parent the children they conceive in a way that protects child and mother, honoring the physical and emotional bond that exists.
But be that as it may, Marsy’s Law was never designed to be that vehicle of change for North Carolina’s youngest citizens. It was created to provide additional recourse and resources for violent crime victims and their family members.
However, despite the facts and bi-partisan support for this legislation, there are some extreme-left influencers that have expressed an unwillingness to be intellectually honest when it comes to Marsy’s Law, which seems to be the latest victim in their war on reality.
Marsy’s Law, or more specifically, H551/S595, recently came under attack by James Protzman, a former gubernatorial candidate and owner of BlueNC, a blog dedicated to “progressive politics in North Carolina.” Protzman encouraged voters to vote against this amendment, writing that although he can “sympathize with those who advocate for victim’s rights…they are being used by a devious legislature in pursuit of an extremist, right wing agenda.” Protzman went on to insist that it would pave the way for making abortion illegal, which set off alarm bells among pro-choicers.
As compensation for his impressive, but dishonest, mental gymnastics, Politifact NC gave him a “Pants on Fire” rating. Although Politifact states that they don’t generally cover blogs in their fact-checking project, they believed Protzman’s claims warranted a review because of the hundreds of social media shares– including former state Representative Frank McGuirt (D-Union) – it had already received.
In addition to Politifact’s coverage, Marsy’s Law for NC chastised Protzman and others for, “Their glib misinformation campaign,” describing it as, “an attempt to mislead voters, and ultimately will hurt crime victims and their families who deserve equal rights in the state constitution — rights that the accused and convicted already have.”
The spin that has been created by the #NixAllSix campaign is unfortunate but unsurprising. When you’re a hammer, everything is a nail…even when it’s a bill that expands protections for victims of violent and heinous crimes.
