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Democratic Rep. Alma Adams has accused a Republican colleague of stretching the truth during Wednesday's emotional floor debate over expansive new restrictions on abortion.

Rep. Pat McElraft fought tears as she recounted how her nephew took his girlfriend to Planned Parenthood 14 years ago seeking to end her pregnancy.

"She went to Planned Parenthood, asked them what her choices were," said McElraft, an Emerald Isle Republican. "They told her she would have a deformed baby because of her drug use, her only option was abortion. Do you have the money? ...

"He went with her to what she describes as a very dark house. In that very dark house, a nurse attended to her. My nephew asked the nurse if she could at least see the ultrasound. The nurse said, 'I can't do that I'll get fired.'"

Eventually, the nurse showed the couple the screen.

"It was a perfectly formed, little human baby," McElraft said. "They had lied to her about how far along she was. They had lied to her about the deformity of that baby. She left there immediately."

The couple married and that fetus is now a teenager, McElraft said.

House Bill 854, which includes a provision requiring abortion providers to show a patient the ultrasound of her baby, passed 71-48 in a largely party line vote.

Republicans have repeatedly flogged Planned Parenthood during the debate over new restrictions on abortion, and passed a measure cutting off all state funding for family planning and women's health services at the non-profit.

Adams, a Greensboro Democrat, said Thursday McElraft wasn't completely truthful about the role  Planned Parenthood played in her family story.

In a letter to fellow House members, Adams said McElraft failed to disclose that the incident took place in Georgia, not North Carolina. And the "dark house" where the couple went for an abortion was not a Planned Parenthood facility.

In fact, her niece and nephew went to a Planned Parenthood in Augusta. Since they did not provide abortion care at that time, they referred her to another provider, not affiliated with Planned Parenthood in Atlanta.

Because Planned Parenthood has been continuously defamed during this session, I wanted to make sure that in Rep. McElraft’s telling of such an emotional story, that the members were not misled into believing that a Planned Parenthood facility would ever operate in such a manner. Also, I think it is extremely unfortunate that Rep. McElraft would use a story that happened in another state over a decade ago to conclude that changes must be made in North Carolina in 2011.

A full copy of Adams' letter is available below.

The House rejected a bill encouraging grocery stores to provide sanitizing wipes to customers to clean shopping cart handles.

Rep. Ed Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, said he filed the bill after learning that researchers determined shopping carts provided some of the most exposure to germs and were most risky for children under the age of six.

The legislation would have encouraged retailers to provide the wipes and instructed local health departments to promote their use.

The bill quickly drew derisive comments from House Republicans.

Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican, said the bill represented the "nanny state having fun."

"I think we're going to lead our society to the point where we're going to be so sterile, we'll all just have to live in a bubble," he said. "When I grew up, I think the saying was you had to eat a peck of dirt or you wouldn't be a healthy kid, and I believe that."

More after the jump.

Rep. Alma Adams atoned for her days of smoking.

The Greensboro Democrat recalled her years of smoking, including on the floor of the legislature.

She said Rep. Dan Blue, who sat behind her, used to have a little fan on his desk to blow away her smoke.

Adams also noted that smoking particularly hurts women and African-Americans. 

* Another popular, longtime North Carolina mayor — Raleigh's Charles Meeker — considers hanging up his hat after this year. Or not.

* Former Sen. John Edwards' political star may have dimmed, but other members of his constellation are shining on in Washington.

* U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell's "Buy American" requirement for Homeland Security uniforms made it into the final version of the stimulus package.

* State Rep. Alma Adams is pushing a bill that would create a two-track system for sex ed: Abstinence-only and comprehensive.

A few notable House bills filed:

H.B. 132: Jury Duty Tax Deduction, Rep. Timothy Spear

H.B. 133: Prudent Management of Institutional Funds, Rep. Deborah Ross

H.B. 134: Assault State or Local Officer or Employee, Rep. Russell Tucker

H.B. 135: Broadband Service Providers, Reps. Bill Faison, Joe Tolson, Phil Haire and Thom Tillis

H.B. 137: Capital Procedure / Severe Mental Disability, Reps. Verla Insko, Pricey Harrison, Larry Womble and Paul Luebke

H.B. 149: Require Arts Educ. Credit for Graduation, Reps. Becky Carney, Rick Glazier, Alma Adams and Linda Johnson

H.B. 154: Appoint State Superintendent, Rep. Leo Daughtry

H.B. 155: Appoint State School Superintendent, Reps. Haire, Harold Brubaker, Johnson and Marvin Lucas

The NAACP is 100 years old and the North Carolina chapter celebrated the day by calling on lawmakers to spare the poor when they eviscerate next year's budget.

The civil rights organization was founded on Feb. 12, 1909. 

"While we celebrate our birthday today, we cannot take a break," said the Rev. William Barber, president of the state chapter. "Don't balance this budget on the backs of the poor."

Barber was, of course, referring to next year's budget deficit, which is expected to be at least $2 billion, nearly 10 percent of last year's $21.5 billion budget.

Lawmakers have demonstrated little appetite to raise taxes to fill the budget hole. The state is required to have a balanced budget and lawmakers are likely to adopt deep spending cuts to get there.

The state's largest expenditures are for education and health and human services. Barber and members of the Black Caucus advocated Thursday for leaving those categories out of the cuts.

"Simply talking about cutting across the board is a good sound byte, but it's bad public policy," Barber said.

The House made its committee assignments Wednesday.

The first two weeks of the session have been mostly uneventful as members attended budget and revenue briefings. Behind the scenes, members have been jockeying for committee assignments and chairmanships.

Speaker Joe Hackney appointed chairmen and chairwomen Wednesday, and the speaker handed out new wooden gavels to each committee head.

In the House, Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat will remain a senior budget writer. Other chairs of the Appropriations Committee include: Reps. Alma Adams, Greensboro; Martha Alexander, Charlotte; Jim Crawford, Oxford; Phillip Haire, Sylva; Maggie Jeffus, Greensboro; Joe Tolson, Pinetops; Douglas Yongue, Laurinburg. All are Democrats.

A few more bills from the House today:

H.B. 84: No Bail for Certain Illegal Aliens, Reps. Justin Burr, Pearl Burris-Floyd

H.B. 87: DOL Enforcement Positions/Funds, Reps. Beverly Earle, Jennifer Weiss, Angela Bryant, Jean Farmer-Butterfield

H.B. 88: Healthy Youth Act, Reps. Bob England, Susan Fisher, Alma Adams, Winkie Wilkins

Rep. William Wainwright won a second term as speaker pro tem.

The Havelock Democrat was nominated to serve in the leadership role under Speaker Joe Hackney by Rep. Alma Adams, a fellow member of the Legislative Black Caucus.

She called Wainwright, an ordained minister, "a man of God."

"Around these halls we finally regard him as our bishop and we seek his counsel and his wise advice," she said. "He's a man of purpose, principled in his actions."

Reps. Alice Underhill of New Bern and Paul Luebke of Durham seconded the nomination.

Republican Rep. Dale Folwell of Winston-Salem was also nominated.

Wainwright won on a party-line vote. He has held the post since 2007.

Rep. Alma Adams
Greensboro Democrat
Eighth-and-a-half term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? Adams said she doesn't have any idea yet where to start cutting.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? "Hopefully we won't have to do that," she said.

— Ben Niolet