Letter: Our rights are on the line this election

The midterm elections are critical this year. On the ballot are reproductive rights, democracy and the choice between kindness and decency versus the politics of fear and division!

Senate candidate Cheri Beasley and NC-11 congressional candidate Jasmine Beach-Ferrara have pledged to support and protect women’s reproductive rights. They will both support legislation that would codify Roe vs. Wade, which had been the law of the land for 50 years.

Ted Budd, the Republican Senate candidate, co-sponsored HR 1011, The Life at Conception Act, a bill which would grant fetuses legal protections. Budd also co-sponsored HR 705 in 2021, which would effectively outlaw abortion nationwide with no exceptions for rape or incest and could put doctors in jail.

NC-11 candidate Chuck Edwards, who called abortion access supporters “evil,” also wants to eliminate women’s right to make their own reproductive health care choices. Edwards, whose campaign website says he’s “a pro-life candidate who believes life begins at conception,” represents an extreme and minority view. These positions are completely out of touch with what most Western North Carolinians believe.

Beasley and Beach-Ferrara will protect the rights we have enjoyed for decades. Budd and Edwards want to send us back 50 years or more.

Recently, we’ve seen how fragile democracy can be. U.S. Rep. Ted Budd objected to the certification of the 2020 election and earlier this year stated that the violent attack on the Capitol was “nothing” and “just patriots standing up.” Republican elected officials have supported the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, falling in line with Donald Trump’s expectation of loyalty. I don’t see Chuck Edwards as an independent maverick standing up for truth or going against party leadership. He’s closer to a Madison Cawthorn without the drama.

The choice is clear. Let’s send these two smart, ethical and sensible women to Washington! Support Cheri Beasley, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and the Democrats.

— Debbie Resnick
Asheville

Editor’s note: Resnick reports writing the letter as a citizen and additionally working as a part-time paid fellow with the N.C. Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign to “get out the vote” in support of Beasley and local Democratic candidates.