House Bill 1232

The news of House Bill 1232 on the floor of the North Carolina House of Representatives is not welcome for women in child-bearing years. It states, “A woman who engages in any kind of birth control should be charged with murder.” That seems extreme even for MAGA Republicans.

The first birth control pill was approved May 9, 1960. By 1965, 40% of young women were using the pill. I was one of them. As a young bride, married to a man with entrepreneurial tendencies, we decided to take our time having a family. When that decision was made, I was 19. Tom was 20.

I had problems with the pill and ended up in Wilson Memorial Hospital with what was diagnosed as Rheumatoid Arthritis. I could not walk. A haughty doc walked into my room and said, “You women… you women want it all.” He did not remain my doctor very long after that.

The family Internist came to the room. “I have been reading the AMA Journal. It reports problems with some women taking the pills. Side effects like yours. I am taking you off the pill.”

Lisa was born ten months after that.

Many women for whom the pill was a blessing could plan the births of children. They could plan the spacing of their children and the number of children a family could afford and support.

Linda Gordon, a historian at NYU says, “Contraception has become a contentious political issue.” It also becomes another way Republicans can take away rights of women and most women are not aware of their nefarious actions.

Loretta Lynn wrote her song, The Pill, after her sixth child was born. As her career soared, she decided six were enough. What an era! Women could claim an autonomy. Many chose a path in business. Some chose medicine as a vocation.

It became a time when women could pursue their own “call” in life. They could hone skills and know the rush of achievement, recognition, and self-esteem. Women who spent days doing laundry and cooking got little thanks and not even an allowance.

Women in the 2026 workplace still earn less than men. Fewer women are CEOS of companies. With the Trump fragile male ego, the sycophants are passing laws that cast women back to the 1950s. Pete Hegseth is already demoting minorities and women in military service. 

House Bill 1232 impacts abortion. Abortion is legal in 25 states. In North Carolina abortion is already severely restricted. House Bill 1232 would ban all abortion and “classify the procedure as first degree murder.”

The rolling back of legal abortion will send women across state lines at great expense and inconvenience to their families. Hardship on women appears to be part of the plan.

When I was a freshman at East Carolina, two young women on my hall got pregnant. One married the young man who got her pregnant. The other spent hours on the phone finding the old woman in Pitt County who performed abortions in her bedroom with a coat hanger.

When cruelty becomes the point of misguided law, people suffer. With little recourse, resignation comes and people grow silent. When compassion ends, we are no longer human.

I hope Trump Era Republicans enjoy the ride. I continue to think it is such a pity when people choose darkness over empathy. What is paradoxical about the abortion debate, people choose to go the limit protecting zygotes, embryos, and non-viable fetuses. Instead, they choose to kill or harm the mother. And don’t get me started on the death penalty. Seems a little schizophrenic. Certainly disingenuous.

Don’t mess with women. We know how to get loud… and even. Hell might rain down. Wait for it.  

Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com