How the State Bankrolls Anti-Abortion Centers

Desiree walked into Gateway Women’s Care in September 2022 excited to learn how far along she was in her pregnancy. She’d tried to schedule an appointment with several obstetricians, but couldn’t get one. The free crisis pregnancy center in Durham could see her right away.

The ultrasound technician at Gateway told Desiree to go to the emergency room because she was having an ectopic pregnancy. “You need to go to the hospital now because it’s going to rupture,” Desiree said the technician told her.

At WakeMed ER, a nurse performed another ultrasound, and a doctor told Desiree that she was in fact carrying a healthy embryo measuring four weeks and five days. The good news cost her a $6,250 in bills.

Crisis pregnancy centers like Gateway often offer services like pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and counseling for unplanned pregnancies, but they don’t provide much of the medical or prenatal care one might expect from their name. And yet, state funding for the centers has increased from $300,000 a year a decade ago to more than $12 million in 2023.

An investigation by The Assembly found that the at least 100 crisis pregnancy centers operating in North Carolina are not subject to the same privacy regulations or governmental oversight as medical clinics, and in cases like Desiree’s, they have shared inaccurate information. And less than a quarter of the state funds they received went to directly supporting pregnant people.

How the N.C. Legislature Bankrolls Anti-Abortion Centers

Over the past three years, the state legislature has increased funding to so-called crisis pregnancy centers, with little oversight or outcomes to show for the $30 million total expenditure.

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The Supremes

What a difference a day makes. On Monday morning, Republican Jefferson Griffin appeared to be running out of options and time to stop the State Board of Elections from declaring his Democratic opponent, Allison Riggs, the winner in the state Supreme Court race.

But within 24 hours, Griffin’s odds dramatically changed. First, U.S. District Judge Richard Myers II on Monday evening sent the case back to the state Supreme Court. Then on Tuesday morning, the state Supreme Court temporarily blocked the State Board of Elections from certifying the race this week as planned. Meanwhile, state elections officials have appealed Myers’ ruling to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. 

It is the latest in a race that has grown as complicated as a Christopher Nolan film. 

On election night two months ago, Griffin was leading by just over 10,000 votes. But after county elections officials counted provisional and mail-in absentee ballots, Riggs–the incumbent–had the lead by a little more than 600 votes. Griffin asked for a machine recount and a partial hand recount. At the end of those, Riggs had a 734-vote lead. 

Griffin filed more than 300 election protests against 60,000 voters across North Carolina, including Riggs’ parents. The bulk of the protests alleged that state elections officials had illegally allowed people to cast ballots who did not provide a driver’s license or Social Security number on their voter registration forms. He also challenged the constitutionality of a state law that allows people born overseas to vote if their parents are registered here. 

The State Board of Elections dismissed all of Griffin’s protests last month. In response, he asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the 60,000 votes and declare him the winner. The State Board of Elections removed the case and placed it in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  

Now, Myers has sent it back to the Supreme Court, which has issued an expedited schedule. It appears the earliest the court would rule is either late January or early February. 

Riggs has already declared victory and wants Griffin to concede. On Sunday, she spoke at a Democratic Party rally in Raleigh. 

“We will not stop until we have put this election fully to bed,” Riggs said. “We will make sure that our government is led by people who will protect your right to vote.”

—Michael Hewlett

Have a news tip for our team? You can reach us at scoops@theassemblync.com.

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Judging the Judges

Before running for Wayne County Superior Court judge, Billy Strickland II was a bull rider turned farmer turned beaver trapper turned lawyer. He was also a frequent political donor.

Strickland’s financial contributions to Republican candidates continued after he filed to run for office in December 2023, records compiled by Open Secrets show. In 2024, he gave more than $15,000 to support presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, and Hal Weatherman, who ran for lieutenant governor.

The North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits such giving. But an analysis by The Assembly finds it’s a prohibition many judges and candidates aren’t following. Six other attorneys running for judicial office and eight sitting judges also made recent political donations.

Judicial Candidates Made Numerous Prohibited Donations

At least 15 candidates in the 2024 election cycle made political donations while campaigning or serving as a judge, The Assembly found.

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What We’re Reading

The Price is Right: New state Treasurer Brad Briner said “a number of uncomfortable things” need to be done to shore up the State Health Plan, including raising premiums, via Carolina Public Press.

Go Dutch: A state senator whose family sweet potato farm was put into receivership says the bank used her political career as leverage for its debt collection efforts, via WRAL.

List Wait: The state finally released a list of Hurricane Helene-related fatalities, but it includes a number of inconsistencies, per Asheville Watchdog.

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Judicial Candidates Made Numerous Prohibited Donations

At least 15 candidates in the 2024 election cycle made political donations while campaigning or serving as a judge.

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