UPDATE: A statement from NC DPS regarding the three counter-protestors arrested was appended to the article
Over a hundred gathered at the Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Raleigh today (May 26) for a rally in support of House Bill 158, which they say would “abolish” abortion in the state of North Carolina.
HB 158 would add to the constitution that “it is a matter of indisputable scientific fact that a distinct and separate human life begins at the moment of fertilization”. It would also criminalize all attempts to “willfully seeks to destroy the life of another person, by any means, at any stage of life, or succeeds in doing so” as “attempted murder or for first degree murder, respectively.” This bill is not expected to pass.
Speakers at the rally included Representative Larry G. Pittman (R), a sponsor of the legislation, as well as both local and out-of-state anti-abortion activists. According to the rally organizers, this was the first abortion abolitionist rally in North Carolina for the first abortion abolitionist legislation in North Carolina. Abortion abolitionists compare their tactics and strategies to those of the American anti-slavery abolitionist movement. The abolitionists also seek to contrast themselves with the broader pro-life movement in key areas, such as (a) explicit Christianity, (b) life from the moment of fertilization, (c) complete abolition of abortion, and (d) equal judicial consequences for abortion as are currently in place for murder. The rally ended with a call to lobby the state legislators for the passage of HB 158.
A handful of counter-protesters gathered as the rally progressed. Near the end of the rally, police were seen taking three of the counter-protesters away in handcuffs. The reason for the arrests was not immediately clear.
UPDATE: In response to an inquiry, we received this statement from the NC DPS:
While protests can be subject to restrictions on time, place and manner, they are held as a fundamental right under the Constitution. State Capitol Police respects the constitutional right to peaceably assemble. Earlier today, State Capitol Police Officers observed the three suspects named below in an unauthorized area of a permitted event on Bicentennial Mall. After repeatedly asking the individuals to leave the perimeter of that event, State Capitol Police arrested the following three individuals on the charge of second degree trespassing, a class 3 misdemeanor: Yakob Lemma, 18; Benjamin Massey, 18; and Michael Mangam, 32. Massey was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon (brass knuckles), a class 2 misdemeanor.
