North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson (R) has described mass killings in America as karma for killing babies and chickens roosting. He has compared reproductive rights advocates to those who fought to preserve slavery. Robinson noted that as a candidate for office, he was advised “not to say abortion is murder. What else am I supposed to call it? Abortion is murder.”
A Rolling Stone A review of the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s public comments and social media posts reveals that he has described abortion as murder dozens of times. While Robinson has expressed extreme views on a range of topics, his views on abortion were particularly controversial in his recent statewide bid. His Democratic opponent ran ads with as many anti-abortion soundbites from Robinson as he could fit in 30 seconds.
“Suppose I were governor, and I had a willing legislature, we could pass a bill that said you could not have an abortion in North Carolina for any reason,” he says in another clip. “To me, there is no middle ground on abortion, and I don’t care why or how that baby ended up in that womb.” Elsewhere, he says, “Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It’s about killing a baby because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Now the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, a key presidential battleground state in November, is trying something else: promoting his campaign on his wife’s abortion. This isn’t the first time Robinson and his wife have discussed the issue publicly, but his campaign has released a live ad in front of the cameras in which they share their experience. In the ad, Robinson describes his opposition to abortion as personal, and attempts to reframe many of his past comments on the issue.
“Thirty years ago, my wife and I made a very difficult decision. We had an abortion. It was a huge pain between us that we never talked about,” Robinson says in a recent ad. “It’s something that stays with you forever,” his wife adds. “That’s why I stand by our current law, which has reasonable exceptions for the life of the mother, incest, and rape. … When I’m governor, mothers in need will be supported.”
North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, “life-limiting” fetal abnormalities, and medical emergencies.
Robinson has previously downplayed the need for exceptions to abortion restrictions. In a 2021 speech at the North Carolina Republican convention, according to a video obtained by Rolling Stone“There are some things I will never compromise on, and I will never compromise on, and one of them is fetuses,” Robinson says. He notes that people always ask abortion opponents what they would do in cases of rape or incest, and says the argument reminds him of another argument about seat belts.
“I can remember this when I was a young man, when we were arguing about whether or not we should wear seat belts, or whether we should wear them. He should “Wear your seat belt,” Robinson continues. “And I still remember one guy saying, ‘Well, what if I get stuck on the tracks and I can’t get my seat belt off?’ First of all, if I get stuck on the tracks, that’s Darwin. That’s not my business. That’s Darwin. I’ve seen the tracks. If you can’t get over them, I can’t help you.”
“That’s not a good argument,” he concludes, “because in this country we’re not talking about a group of people who go to abortion centers because they were raped or because they were victims of incest. We’re talking about a culture that we’ve created in this society that tells you when you want to feel happy, go there and lie down and do whatever you want. If you get into a little trouble, it’s okay to kill someone to get out of it. That’s not okay.”
A spokesman for Robinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a radio interview on Thursday, Robinson said, “I haven't changed my view on abortion, but I have changed my approach to it.”
“If you’re someone who is seen as an individual standing on a stage and pointing down at a young woman and saying, ‘You can’t have an abortion,’ that’s not the right approach,” he said. Instead, he said, “the right approach is to get off the stage and embrace that young woman and tell her the reasons why I think she should choose life, and then ultimately leave it up to her based on the laws that we have in place. That’s why I made this announcement, and why I was willing to do this. Because we feel this is a heart issue. And if we’re going to win this case, we’re going to win people over on this case, we have to show people that we care. Because we have to show them how deeply it affects people.”
Robinson has previously acknowledged that his wife had an abortion. In a 2022 video, he said his family is “strongly pro-life” based on experience: “We know what it’s like to be in that situation, and we know the pain that abortion causes. For anyone who has been through that and carries that burden, we want you to know that you are not alone. Furthermore, we have a Savior who forgives our sins and offers us grace. No one is perfect, but no one is too far from salvation.”
A few weeks ago, Robinson spoke at an event and repeatedly described abortion as murder — calling it an “insult to God” and a “blight on humanity,” according to a recording reviewed by Rolling Stone.
In an audio recording from an event last October — while he was campaigning for governor — Robinson said people were “killing people in the womb, by hand or by fist,” arguing that they cared more about protecting animals like dugongs and kangaroo rats.
