Texas offers a cautionary tale to North Carolina

Voters in North Carolina need to understand the stakes of this election

This week, Texas gave us a preview of what GOP rule looks like when Republicans control all three branches of government. Every woman in America should be terrified. North Carolina could be next.

After passing one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, Texas put it into practice last week. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used the crushing power of the state to deny an abortion to a woman whose doctor said continuing the pregnancy could threaten her health. The woman, Kate Cox, had to flee the state to get the health care she needed. That’s some seriously Big Government intruding into our lives.

Earlier this year, the Texas legislature passed an extreme bill that bans abortion after the detection of a heartbeat with some vague protections for the life of the mother. The governor, Greg Abbott, signed it into law. Paxton showed the law’s power this week, threatening hospitals and doctors if they performed the procedure. The GOP Supreme Court stood with the attorney general, offering an opinion that, according to Vox, “reads like something out of a Franz Kafka novel.”

The court held that a doctor can perform an abortion if it seems medically necessary. However, in the same ruling, the court refused to protect the doctor from being prosecuted or sued. In other words, the doctor could perform an abortion, but the state could then make a decision to charge that doctor with a crime, offering medical workers and hospitals no legal protections. Paxton threatened to prosecute the doctors. In real terms, the state of Texas has taken control of women’s bodies and medical decisions.

In North Carolina, the table is set for a similar scenario. The only thing keeping Republicans from enacting draconian laws with similar consequences is Democratic control of the Governor’s Mansion and attorney general’s office. The legislature has gerrymandered itself into a majority for the foreseeable future and is hoping to maintain veto proof majorities after 2024. The independent judiciary here is not very independent, following the lead of GOP talking points and legislative agendas. Likely GOP nominees for governor and attorney general are among the most extreme candidates running anywhere in the country. And that’s saying something.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson said he would ban abortion without exceptions if he becomes governor. With a compliant and heavily gerrymandered Republican majority in the legislature, he would almost certainly follow through on his promise. When Republicans passed a bill this year banning abortions after 12 weeks, Robinson pledged to push for further restrictions if he becomes governor, saying, “It gives ourselves the opportunity to set ourselves up to get ready to continue to move the ball. And when I say to move the ball, what I mean is to continue to try to save lives in the womb, and to continue to do the hard work it’s going to take to enhance those lives once those individuals are born.”

Dan Bishop, the likely GOP nominee for attorney general, is one of the most extreme Members of Congress, aligning himself with the likes of Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert. He’s courted controversy throughout his career, sponsoring the notorious HB2 that allowed the state to override local policies. He was an early funder of the website Gab, a nest of White Supremacists and antisemites where the Pittsburg synagogue shooter posted his hateful manifesto. No one seriously doubts that Bishop would take the most extreme position on abortion if he were to become attorney general.

On the state Supreme Court, Republicans hold 5-2 majority. Chief Justice Paul Newby has revealed himself to be a partisan warrior, showing little judicial restraint. With few exceptions, the court has rubber stamped GOP legislation while rolling back judicial precedent that protected rights. There’s no reason to think that they would rule on the side of the individual rights of a woman over the rights of a fetus.

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, and with the support of the stolen supreme court seats, we’re finally seeing in practice the vision that conservatives have for the country. They’ve rolled back fifty years of protections for individual rights unless those rights have to do with the Second Amendment or big corporations, who we found out are people, too. They’ve largely dismantled the Voting Rights Act, protecting GOP power through gerrymandering and voter suppression. They ended Roe v. Wade, showing an utter disregard for the rights of women. In coming years, they will likely try to scrap much of the New Deal safety net. To achieve their goals, they’ve empowered the states with little consideration for the rights of people. This week, Texas showed us what can happen.

Texas is a warning sign for states like North Carolina. Republicans want to set us back about 100 years, dismantling the social safety net and returning power to Christian conservatives to impose their values on society. The U.S. Supreme Court won’t stop them. Through gerrymandering, North Carolina Republicans have given themselves enormous power that can only be checked by the executive branch and the state courts. Voters in North Carolina need to understand the stakes of this election.