US Senator Jon Kyle, who famously lied about Planned Parenthood on the floor of the US Senate, has some good company right here in North Carolina, NC Representative Pat McElraft.

During House debate this week on HB 854, which seeks to impose mandatory waiting periods and politician-scripted counseling on any woman in NC seeking an abortion, Rep McElraft told a story about an unintended pregnancy faced in her family.  In her emotional testimony on the house floor, she told members that her nephew and future niece were into drugs when they found out they were pregnant and went to Planned Parenthood.

“So he went with her to what she describes as a very dark house. In that very dark house, a nurse attended to her. My nephew asked the nurse if she could at least see the ultrasound, and the nurse said, ‘I can’t show you that, I’ll get fired.’” They insisted and eventually were able to see the ultrasound and choose not to have an abortion.

Turns out, her nephew and neice didn’t go to Planned Parenthood for their abortion and they weren’t even in North Carolina.  

Thank you to Rep. Alma Adams, who rebutted McElraft’s testimony in a letter to the House. Read full letter, here’s an excerpt: 

In the recitation of her story, Rep. McElraft neglected to tell the members that this story happened in the state of Georgia, not North Carolina. 

She also frequently mentioned Planned Parenthood in her story. In fact, her niece and nephew went to a Planned Parenthood in Augusta. Since they did not provide abortion care at that time, they referred her to another provider, not affiliated with Planned Parenthood in Atlanta.

Because Planned Parenthood has been continuously defamed during this session, I wanted to make sure that in Rep. McElraft’s telling of such an emotional story, that the members were not misled into believing that a Planned Parenthood facility would ever operate in such a manner.

Bravo to Rep Adams for concluding:
“Also, I think it is extremely unfortunate that Rep. McElraft would use a story that happened in another state over a decade ago to conclude that changes must be made in North Carolina in 2011.”

If you would like to contact Rep McElraft, her email is pat.mcelraft@ncleg.net and phone is 919-733-6275.

If you would like to thank Rep Adams, her email is alma.adams@ncleg.net and phone is 919-733-5902.

One Response to “NC Rep McElraft has a “Not Intended as a Factual Statement” moment”