Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five
articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your
friends and church families.
We
would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25,
or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and
fighting for your values on the public square!
1. NC VALUES: 👣 Now, the real work
begins
Because of a 1973 statute and a
federal court decision, abortion is currently legal up to “viability”
(24 weeks) in North Carolina.
We have a lot of work to do to
make North Carolina pro-life!
Except for Virginia, all the
states that border North Carolina have already become pro-life due to
Heartbeat bills or Trigger laws they passed. Unless we do something
about it, North Carolina will become the largest abortion destination
in the South, possibly tripling the number of abortions taking place
in our state.
The Dobbs decision rightly returned the issue of
abortion to our state, and it is now up to us to work on electing
veto-proof pro-life majorities in the NC House and Senate, and then
passing pro-life legislation that saves lives and stops this all from
happening.
In anticipation of all the questions that surround
abortion in North Carolina, we have launched a resource site at ncvalues.org/prolifenc.
On it, you can get info,
laws,
history,
and answers
to frequently asked questions related to the state of abortion in
NC. We’ve even created an interactive GIS map that helps women find
their nearest pro-life pregnancy centers.
We CANNOT allow
our state to become the abortion destination of the South!
2. SPECTRUM NEWS: More work to be
done for anti-abortion movement in North Carolina
“Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land. For some, like
Tami Fitzgerald, there’s plenty of work still to be done.
‘It’s important that we increase the funding for pregnancy
care centers in light of the Dobbs case,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘Because
we’re going to have an increase in women with crisis pregnancies who
need help.’
Fitzgerald says this is a victory for her side of
the movement that’s been in the works for 50 years.
‘Now the
[Supreme] Court has returned this issue to the people through their
elected representatives, and we are looking forward to the opportunity
to make North Carolina pro-life again,’ Fitzgerald said.
It
will be an uphill political battle with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper,
who holds veto power.
‘Because of Governor Cooper and his
support for the abortion industry, he is in the pocket of the abortion
industry. We’re unable to pass a pro-life bill in North Carolina that
doesn’t get vetoed,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘We’re looking forward to
neutralizing Governor Cooper’s veto with veto-proof majorities.’”
3. THE ASSEMBLY: The State of Last
Resort
"If Roe falls, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia,
Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are expected to
ban or severely restrict abortions. Florida recently enacted a ban
after 15 weeks’ gestation, and Republican lawmakers in the state have
said they are open to banning the procedure entirely. Farris and the
medical team at the Asheville clinic are preparing to step into an
unprecedented position: providing abortions for patients coming from
all over the South. North Carolina has 14 clinics where abortions are
performed. With a Supreme Court decision imminent, these clinics are
preparing to serve many more people who do not want to be
pregnant."
4. THE FEDERALIST: Democrats’
Abortion Views Are Far Too Radical To Benefit From The Post-Roe
Political Reality
“In North Carolina, Democrat nominee Cheri Beasley has made
abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy the central
argument of her campaign. She wants federal legislation to codify this
view. By contrast, her opponent Ted Budd says he thinks states should
handle abortion law and he has focused his campaign on how to improve
the economy.”
5. THE DAILY SIGNAL: This
Supreme Court Ruling Will Prove Vital to Defending Voter
ID
"The Supreme Court’s important ruling last week on voter ID
in North Carolina has been overlooked in the fervor over the high
court’s spot-on decisions upholding the Second Amendment and religious
freedom and overruling Roe v. Wade. But the court’s procedural
decision Thursday in Berger v. NAACP will help prevent state officials
from sabotaging the defense of state election laws and other measures
being attacked by their political allies and friends. The Berger
decision did not uphold the constitutionality of North Carolina’s new
voter ID law, since that issue was not before the court. But in an 8-1
decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court held that state
legislative leaders in North Carolina have the right to intervene in
litigation to defend the constitutionality of the state’s voter ID
law."
WEEKLY PRAYER: LIFE
LORD, we recognize that you are
Sovereign over all creation. We recognize you made man from the dust,
and in your mercy, you crowned creation with man and woman made in
your image. What a wonder it is that you would bestow upon us this
blessing and responsibility! LORD, may we not take this blessing for
granted. We pray that this great responsibility and dignity may
motivate us to love You, our neighbors, and our families
more.
LORD, may we as a culture truly see
and believe that children are a blessing from the LORD—born or unborn;
able or disabled. All children should have an opportunity to
experience the liberty of life. LORD, make us your vehicle to change
our culture into one that cherishes and protects life. Keep at the
forefront of our minds our responsibilities to respect, cherish, and
serve the youngest and oldest in our society.
Finally, LORD, we pray even further
for our children. Across our state, country, and world, an entire
generation of youth have seen their lives and education ruptured by
the pandemic and its closing of schools. Father, as a result so many
of these children are not only wounded by the quality of their
education, but by a likely onslaught of mental illness brought about
by social isolation. LORD, bring them hope and healing as only You
can.
"At that time the disciples came to
Jesus and asked, 'Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?' He called a little child to him, and placed the child among
them. And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become
like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child
in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little
ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them
to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in
the depths of the sea.'" (Matthew 18:1-6)
Amen
Will you chip in $100, $50, $25, or even $10 to help
the NC Values Coalition continue to fight for your rights? You can
donate by clicking here.
Sincerely,
North Carolina Values Coalition
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