Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's record on abortion is being criticized by her Democratic opponent.
"I am uncomfortable with Beverly Perdue's wavering position on choice," writes Stephanie Dorko, finance director for state Treasurer Richard Moore, who faces Perdue in next May's Democratic primary for governor. "Over the course of her public career, she has taken a variety of conflicting positions on a women’s right to choose."
Dorko wrote the email in response to receiving an invitation to join Women for Perdue, Rob Christensen reports.
Dorko wrote that Perdue, as Senate Appropriations chair in 1995, cut the abortion fund for poor women by 96 percent. She quoted a Charlotte Observer editorial which said her 1995 performance shows she "lets politics, not principle govern her performance."
More after the jump.
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At the time, North Carolina was the only Southern state to fund abortions for poor women, taking over responsibility after Congress ended abortion funding for Medicaid recipients in what is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment.
Republicans took control of the N.C. House in 1995 and vowed to end tax-financed abortions.
Perdue was also criticized for her answers to the 1996 National Political Awareness Test, in which she indicated that she believed abortions should only be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered.
The Perdue campaign did not immediately respond.
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Re: Perdue's abortion record attacked
I remained puzzled over Stephanie Dorko's attack on Beverly Perdue's abortion position. As the one who sent out the email inviting friends of the Charlotte Women's Political Caucus to join Women for Perdue, I need to stress that I would not be supporting Beverly if she was not strongly pro-choice. She has introduced numerous pieces of legislation throughout her career protecting women's reproductive rights and improving their access to quality health care. She has been endorsed by many women's groups that are pro-choice. She has stated firmly that she supports Roe vs. Wade. A core mission of the Caucus is to elect pro-choice women to public office. Why would we not support Beverly Perdue?
Betty Chafin Rash,
A founder and former president of the Charlotte Women's Political Caucus