In 2015, Rep. Tricia Cotham stood on the floor of the North Carolina House of Representatives and bravely spoke about her own experience with abortion.
She described how her first pregnancy ended in an abortion after her doctor told her that the pregnancy was not viable and medical intervention would be necessary to save her life.
“It was awful. It was painful and it was sad. And it is and was personal,” Cotham said in that speech.
Cotham, then a Democrat, was speaking in opposition to a GOP-sponsored bill that would triple North Carolina’s mandatory waiting period for people seeking abortion care to 72 hours.
“My womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab,” Cotham said, accusing Republicans of “wanting to play doctor.”
This week, however, Cotham shocked North Carolinians when she announced that she would switch her party affiliation, potentially giving Republicans the final vote they need to achieve major policy goals, including further restrictions on abortion across the state.
Of course, abortion was top of mind for reporters and voters upon hearing the news, given how fundamentally it impacts people’s lives. But at a press conference Wednesday, Cotham wouldn’t say whether she would support any changes to existing abortion policy — namely, whether she would support a ban on abortion after 13 weeks.
“I am still the same person and I am going to do what I believe is right and follow my conscience,” Cotham said, adding, “I’m going to look inside and pray on this issue.”
In other media reports, however, Cotham has suggested that she’s open to supporting new abortion restrictions, and Republican leaders seem confident that they will have the votes to pass them — whether that final vote comes from Cotham or someone else.
If she does support stricter abortion policy, it would contradict statements she made on the campaign trail less than a year ago. In a tweet last year, Cotham vowed to defend the right to choose if elected to the General Assembly, saying, “we need leaders who will be unwavering and unapologetic in their support of abortion rights.”
Cotham echoed that sentiment in a pre-election questionnaire provided to all candidates by The Charlotte Observer. She was backed by EMILY’s List, a national organization that works to elect pro-choice candidates. Currently, Cotham is listed as a co-sponsor of House Bill 19, a bill to codify the right to an abortion up to the point of viability, which is about 26 weeks.
On Wednesday, Cotham didn’t seem to like the fact that abortion topped the list of issues that could be affected by her decision.
“I was never someone who this was the biggest issue facing women in North Carolina,” Cotham said in response to a reporter’s question. “I believe women are much more … To always be tied just to that tragic, hard topic is wrong because women are greater.”
People with the ability to get pregnant have always been more than just their bodies or their wombs. They are whole people. Abortion is certainly not the only issue that affects their lives, but it’s one that affects them deeply. To rob them of that right implies that they are less — less capable, less autonomous, less deserving of the ability to decide what is best for themselves and their families.
Cotham was correct when she said in 2015 that abortion is a personal decision. And, Democrat or Republican, Cotham knows better than most just how personal it is. It should remain that way. Cotham says she is the same person she has always been, but we’ll soon find out just how true that is.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Paige Masten is a Charlotte-based opinion writer and member of the Editorial Board.
