Cumberland Sen. Applewhite distorts the truth on Mark Robinson’s views on abortion
In a recent column in The Fayetteville Observer, far-left Democrat State Sen. Val Applewhite lied to the voters about the differences between Mark Robinson and Josh Stein on the issue of abortion. I’d like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.
Sen. Applewhite’s column includes a number of lies and distortions, but perhaps one of the most despicable is that she is covering for Josh Stein’s refusal to be honest with North Carolina voters about his support for unrestricted, taxpayer-funded abortion with no limits.
Josh Stein is a career politician — he’s been a Democrat Party operative or candidate since the 1990s, working for far-left candidates and elected officials or running for office himself for more than two decades. Over the course of this decades-long political career, Stein has proudly trotted out endorsements and big-money backing from radical pro-abortion extremist groups like Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America). These far-left, big-money groups fight against any and all efforts to protect the unborn at any time, even supporting painful, late-term abortions up until birth.
Mark Robinson’s vision
Extremists like Val Applewhite and Josh Stein aren’t just fighting for abortion, they’re fighting against life. And Sen. Applewhite even introduced a bill to strip funding from crisis pregnancy centers. That is unconscionable.
Crisis pregnancy centers provide critical care and services to some of the most vulnerable expectant mothers in our communities. These valuable centers often offer mothers-to-be ultrasounds or even help provide food and clothing, like diapers and formula. These mothers-to-be need love, care and support, not hateful, partisan attacks from extremist politicians like Val Applewhite and Josh Stein.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has a different vision. He wants to turn North Carolina into a “destination state for life.” In addition to protecting the unborn, Mark Robinson will work to reform our adoption and foster-care systems — and help more mothers and families who choose life.
It is also the height of hypocrisy for Applewhite to accuse pro-life advocates like myself and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of being anti-military. That is a bunch of bunk. Lt. Gov. Robinson and myself both served in the United States Army. We know what it takes to serve firsthand, and as a veteran herself, Applewhite should be ashamed.
Robinson and his wife’s painful experience
Applewhite stoops to even more low-rent, personal attacks, like when she says lawmakers protecting life, in her own words, “have no experience with the heartbreaking decisions that too many women face.”
This too is a lie. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has shared publicly that he and his wife Yolanda know the painful and difficult experience of abortion firsthand. Along with his deeply held faith, it is part of what makes him pro-life. Mark Robinson has said that he supports a heartbeat bill, with exceptions for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger.
Applewhite’s extremism and lies typify what we have come to expect from today’s Democrat Party. Taking a page from his fellow pro-abortion extremist Joe Biden, Josh Stein wants to make abortion a front-and-center issue of this campaign. Then he needs to tell the voters what if any reasonable protections for the unborn he would support. But he won’t — because he is for unrestricted, taxpayer-funded abortion at any stage, even up to birth.
This is wrong. And the people of North Carolina will reject Josh Stein’s pro-abortion extremist agenda in November.
Shamike Bethea is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and a Veteran of the United States Army. She also serves as the Cumberland County Chair of the Mark Robinson for Governor Campaign.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville veteran: Applewhite, Stein too extreme on abortion
