Adams Releases Statement on NC Abortion Ban

CHARLOTTE (May 3, 2023) – Today, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) released the following statement in response to the abortion ban introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly:

“The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said it best: ‘A woman's right to choose an abortion is something central to a woman's life, to her dignity ... when government controls that decision for her, she's being treated as less than a full adult human being responsible for her own choices.’ As the North Carolina General Assembly considers an abortion ban, I can’t help but agree,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams, co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. 

“Right now, there is a maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in the United States. Over 60 countries around the world have lower maternal mortality rates than ours, and within our country Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. Many American women have additional comorbidities they know will cause complications during pregnancies. We should trust them, because legislating forced births will have the effect of legislating forced deaths.

“Even without the reality of the maternal health crisis, the Republican abortion ban is wrong. It devalues the hard work of pregnancy, which should always be voluntary. It dehumanizes women by taking away their bodily autonomy. Involuntary servitude is expressly prohibited by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution; legislation that forces the work of pregnancy, regardless of injury or death, should always be unconstitutional, and this bill should fail.”

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina's 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County) and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

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