This election, North Carolina voters will have the option of making six changes to the state Constitution.
One of them, commonly referred to as the "victims’ rights" or "Marsy’s Law" amendment, would add more protections and rights for crime victims in the legal process. The amendment was pushed by an advocacy group, Marsy’s Law for All, founded to prevent situations like the one experienced by the family of Marsy Nicholas.
Nicholas was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983, according to the Marsy’s Law for NC website. A week after Marsy’s death, her family was confronted by her accused murderer in a grocery store and the family "had no idea that he had been released on bail," the site says.
The proposed amendment would include granting victims’ families the constitutional right to be present at court proceedings of accused felons, the right to be informed of a jury’s ruling, and the right to know if the convicted perpetrator has escaped or been released from prison.
Among the most common criticisms of the proposal is that it might slow the legal system and add costs.
However, a completely different worry recently emerged on the BlueNC blog, which is run by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate James Protzman. Protzman created a poster describing each of the amendments.
"Victim’s rights will be extended to any class of people the legislature wants, including fetuses. This amendment will pave the way for making abortion illegal under North Carolina’s constitution," the Blue NC description of the victims’ rights amendment says.
PolitiFact doesn’t often focus on blogs unless their content becomes widely distributed. In this case, the poster was shared on Facebook by Wayne Goodwin, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and Goodwin’s post was shared more than 700 times.
‘Who knows?’
Abortion is legal in the United States but regulations vary by state. For example, in North Carolina, there are restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks, and taxpayer money can’t be used for abortions except for pregnancies caused by rape, incest or where the mother’s life is endangered, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an advocacy group that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States. North Carolina also gives medical providers the right to refuse abortion services and requires potential abortion patients to wait 72 hours after a consultation, the institute says.
When contacted by PolitiFact, Protzman explained by email he’s critical of all six amendments because they’re vague. He pointed to this line in the legislation: "The victim or, if the victim is a minor, is legally incapacitated, or deceased, a family member, guardian, or legal custodian may assert the rights provided in this section."
"So let’s say you’re the estranged husband of a woman who has an abortion. Under this amendment, you could assert all the rights of a family member on behalf of the fetus, and then impose the requirements of the amendment on your estranged wife. You could even assert, on behalf of the ‘victim,’ that felony murder took place," Protzman said.
"Would this happen? Who knows? But it could. And given the willingness of Sen. Berger and Speaker Moore to bend legislative rules to suit their agendas, I wouldn’t bet against it," he added.
But that hypothetical scenario is not only extremely unlikely, experts said, it’s also irrelevant. The victims’ rights amendment, which has no mention of abortion or reproductive rights, would still have no bearing on the legal status of abortion in North Carolina.
‘Absurd’