Under the Dome: Josh Stein attacks Mark Robinson in ad over comments on abortion

Good morning! ☀️ The temperature in the state capital hit a high of more than 90 degrees on Tuesday. And in the race for the governor’s mansion, Democrat Josh Stein turned up the heat this week on Republican Mark Robinson with a new and expensive advertisement using video clips of Robinson condemning abortions – and using some choice words regarding women who find themselves pregnant.

Here’s what you need to know about Stein’s ad campaign, along with more in North Carolina politics today from our team and correspondent Stephanie Loder.

CAMPAIGN AD USES MARK ROBINSON’S WORDS ON WOMEN, ABORTION

Democrat Josh Stein’s campaign for governor is spending more than $1 million for an ad targeting Republican candidate Mark Robinson – using Robinson’s own words on his stance on abortion against him.

The ad is airing on a mix of streaming, broadcast and digital platforms with a compilation of video clips of Robinson’s views about women and abortion.

It also includes a previously unreported video of Robinson on Facebook Live saying that abortion is not about protecting the lives of mothers.

“It’s about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down,” Robinson says in the video clip from Jan. 24, 2019.

Robinson said, “Everybody knows that abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It is about convenience. It is about abortion on demand. That is exactly what it’s about.”

Robinson acknowledged in 2022 that he and his now-wife, Yolanda Hill, decided have an abortion in 1989 before they were married and that he regretted the decision.

Get the full story from Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan here.

NC SETS ASIDE PROPOSAL LIMITING AUTOPSY RECORD ACCESS

A provision in House Bill 250 which would have prevented the public from accessing autopsy reports tied to criminal investigations has been removed.

Lawmakers in May proposed limiting those reports, as well as blocking access to autopsy records in the form of photographs, video and audio recordings. But when the bill came up on Tuesday in a Senate judiciary committee, it didn’t include the public records proposal.

Sen. Danny Britt, a Robeson County Republican, said the language was cut because “we just weren’t sure where the House was going to be on it.”

Britt said it is possible that the autopsy provisions may reappear at another time.

Get the full story from Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi here.

EUROPE LOOKS AT DOING BUSINESS WITH NC

Gov. Roy Cooper last week visited France, Germany and Switzerland to pitch the state’s workforce in meetings with more than a dozen companies that included:

• Siemens AG

• Schneider Electric

• Syngenta

• ABB

• Novartis

Cooper, after a Council of State meeting in Raleigh, told reporters business leaders asked questions about the economy and upcoming election in the United States.

Cooper said European business leaders “do care very much about this (presidential) election.”

Cooper said he predicted President Joe Biden would win.

Others asked Cooper why Americans were concerned about the economy, he said.

The governor told them he felt Biden had done a good job, that the United States had a strong economy, but “just like everywhere in the world, people are concerned about inflation and it costing more to live.”

While Cooper returned home without any business commitments, he said he feels confident that there will be some companies coming to North Carolina as a result of the trip.

The N.C. Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina joined Cooper on the visit.

Get the full story from Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan here.

JUDGE RULES ON NC ABORTION PILLS

A federal judge made her final ruling on Monday in a lawsuit that challenged the state’s regulations on abortion pills.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles blocked several of the laws on medication abortion that were challenged in the lawsuit by an OB-GYN, Dr. Amy Bryant.

The approval expands access to mifepristone, part of a two-pill regimen for terminating a pregnancy.

The ruling means:

• Mifepristone can be taken at home.

• Pharmacies can provide the pill.

• A follow-up appointment after taking the pill isn’t required.

Get the full story from Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi here.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR URGES DEMS TO FLIP NC FOR BIDEN

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke Monday to the Democratic Women of Mecklenburg County during her campaign stop in North Carolina with President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

Whitmer, co-chair of the Biden campaign, used recent elections in Michigan in drawing a parallel with North Carolina. Biden won Michigan in 2020 and Democrats took control of state government.

“I’m inspired by what I see here in North Carolina. It looks very familiar to what I see at home in Michigan,” Whitmer said.

The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won in North Carolina was in 2008 when Barack Obama defeated John McCain.

Whitmer told Democrats that – with a lot of organizing and going door-to-door – it is possible they can flip North Carolina in the presidential race, hold onto the governor’s mansion and break the Republican supermajority in the state legislature.

Get the full story from Mary Ramsey here.

That’s all for today. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol news.

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