News-Record.com

North Carolina's Pro-Life Democrats sent word that North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. is holding its 35th annual anniversary banquet in Greensboro. The event, on April 26, will honor U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, which makes it a bit weird for a Democratic group to be promoting, but that has more to do with the issue than the personality.

More interesting was a two-page letter (page one / page two) the group sent to Speaker Joe Hackney. It makes the case for two things: a right-to-life state license plate and a fetal homicide law.

The fetal homicide law is particularly interesting because I know that several legislators are making a big push on it this year. In fact, I ran into (Rep. Dale Folwell on my way home yesterday and he allowed as how he has been talking it up.

Now, no one is going to argue that the killing of a pregnant woman and/or her unborn child isn't reprehensible. But - you knew there was a but right - folks see this kind of law as a gateway to outlawing abortion. Background here and here.

Generally, the General Assembly under Democratic control has stayed away from these hot button topics. You may remember it was Hackney who unabashedly killed a bill aimed at a constitution ban on gay marriage, one of the few times he has stepped in like that. A bill that's a gateway to the abortion debate may be in that same category.

I don't see Hackney or President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight letting this kind of issue take over the short session. If this debate was truly engaged, it would dominate legislative business for a time. But I can see proponents of the legislation pushing it hard as a run-on bill, as in something to run-on this fall. With the economy in the tank, the War in Iraq dragging on, a budget that will be no fun to put together and the presidential circus in town, I'm not sure how effective of a tactic that might be. Still, it might mobilize some segment of voters.