South Raleigh News

Raleigh-LifeLink Carolina wants Gov. Roy Cooper to issue an executive order to close all Planned Parenthood centers in the state.

The group said in a web post late March that it is concerned that abortion clinics in North Carolina are “not practicing social distancing, not providing their customers with personal protective equipment, and are falling well outside the ten-person gathering rule.”

Additionally, its members said that abortions fall into the category of elective procedures, according to the open letter. The state’s Department of Health and Human Services ordered that elective medical procedures be suspended starting March 23.

Lifelink wrote it wants Cooper to enact measures that governors in Texas and Ohio have done in putting a hold on abortions.

Planned Parenthood operates nine health centers in North Carolina. At the Planned Parenthood South Atlantic website, they note that patients visiting a health center should not bring along other people, such as relatives or children, to their facility. 

Also, they are asking that patients bring a cell phone so that they can provide services via phone while patients remain their vehicles, according to the post.

Planned Parenthood also provides other health-related services, such as cancer screenings, health and wellness checkups, birth control, and testing for sexually transmitted diseases STDs.

Meanwhile, abortion protestors have been arrested for violating Cooper’s executive order banning gatherings of more than 10 people. 

In Charlotte, twelve people were issued citations out of a group of 50 for violating the order while protesting outside the Preferred Women’s Health Center of Charlotte, according to WSOCTV.com. Eight of those twelve people continued to violate the order and were arrested by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

Councilman Matt Newton told WSOCTV that “It’s in the best interest, the safety, and well-being, of the public that more strict compliance be instituted and that is once again to safeguard the community.”

Councilman Braxton Winston, who had led anti-abortion demonstrations previously in 2016, affirmed the importance of the stay-at-home order in place. He said, “These orders are for everybody of every creed of every neighborhood.” Winston went on to say that “This is our most direct tool, staying at home, just saving lives right now.”