Top red flags

Top red flags

• Does not believe in exceptions to abortion bans for rape or incest. 
• Consistently voted for legislation that would restrict access to abortion as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, including cosponsoring a national abortion ban and a bill that would have enshrined fetal personhood into law. Has an A+ voting record from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. 
• Staunchly anti-LGBTQIA+, using similar tactics of harmful and stigmatizing rhetoric in his attempts to restrict abortion and trans rights. As a North Carolina state Senator, Bishop was best known for authoring discriminatory legislation restricting transgender individuals’ use of public restrooms.  

Litigation

Litigation

Bishop joined amicus briefs supporting litigation efforts to restrict access to abortion care and expand religious refusals, including the below.  

• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: urging the Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional right to abortion cemented in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and to “affirm the constitutional authority of the federal and state governments to safeguard the lives and health of their citizens, born and not yet born.”
• Fulton v. City of Philadelphia: arguing in favor of allowing religious foster care providers to refuse to certify unmarried and same-sex couples as foster parents.Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: urging the Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional right to abortion cemented in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and to “affirm the constitutional authority of the federal and state governments to safeguard the lives and health of their citizens, born and not yet born.”

Legislation

Legislation

Bishop was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019, serving North Carolina’s 9th congressional district (2019-2023) and 8th congressional district (2023-2025). In the 118th Congress, he cosponsored the below pieces of anti-abortion legislation and consistently voted in favor of bills that would restrict access to abortion.

“Life at Conception Act” (H.R. 431)

• Enshrines fetal personhood into law in an attempt to ban abortion nationwide. 

“No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” (H.R. 7)

• Prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions, or to subsidize health plans that cover abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant person.
• Prohibits health plans that receive federal subsidies from covering abortions, unless the abortion falls under the exceptions.
• Requires disclosure of any abortion coverage and related surcharges in health plans offered through the Affordable Care Act.

“Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” (H.R. 26)

• Establishes vague requirements as to how abortion providers are to perform their jobs—mandating that they “provide the same degree of care to an infant born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion as they would to any other newborn”—coupled with criminal penalties of up to five years in prison for failing to comply.
• Uses stigmatizing language and the threat of harsh penalties to shame patients and scare providers from providing safe, quality abortion care.

Bishop also cosponsored a resolution “Expressing the sense of Congress condemning the recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches” (H.Con.Res. 3). 

Statements

Statements

Consistently used problematic, false and inflammatory rhetoric on abortion, such as:

• After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, Bishop released a statement calling abortion “barbaric” and “horrific.” 
• In an interview, Bishop stated, “I think it’s wrong to have an abortion in the case of rape or incest, just as it would be wrong to take the life of a child born to incest.” 
• In 2019, he expressed support for an Alabama bill, then considered the most restrictive abortion ban legislation in the United States, claiming such laws “reflect an evolving consensus against abortion.”
• During Congressional debate over Texas S.B. 8, which bans abortion care after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, Bishop stated that abortion would “never be a settled issue until the humanity of the unborn child is recognized and protected.”
• Bishop celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “[a] foundational victory for our nation.”

Extremist connections

Extremist connections

• While running for Congress, Bishop was endorsed by anti-abortion groups, the National Right to Life Committee & the North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee. 
• As a Congressman, Bishop was rated 100% by anti-abortion groups, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the National Right to Life Committee.