‘It was wrong’: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he paid for abortion in 1989

RALEIGH, N.C. (WRAL) - North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a hard-line conservative who has long spoken out against abortion, said in a 2012 Facebook comment that he paid for the mother of his “unborn child” to have an abortion in 1989, WRAL is reporting.

“I’m not saying abortion is wrong cause I said so it’s wrong cause God says so,” the comment linked to Robinson’s personal Facebook account said. “It’s wrong when others do it and it was wrong when I paid for it to be done to my unborn child in 1989.”

Robinson, the highest-ranking state Republican in executive office and an expected gubernatorial candidate, was elected in 2020 on what his campaign calls a “pro-life” platform. Since taking office, he has continued to speak out against abortion at rallies.

At an anti-abortion rally in January 2021, Robinson said, “We allow the murder of the most innocent human beings on earth and we do it with impunity.”

At the North Carolina GOP convention in June, Robinson specifically called on fathers to be involved in their child’s life.

“Once you make a baby, it’s not your body anymore—it’s y’all’s body. And, yes, that includes the daddy,” he said.

On Tuesday, social media posts resurfaced showing Facebook comments posted by Robinson’s personal Facebook account on Aug. 9, 2012.

The comments remained public and live on Robinson’s Facebook page early Wednesday.

After multiple requests late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Robinson didn’t immediately provide a comment.

Robinson, who gained popularity in conservative circles after a speech about gun rights to the Greensboro City Council in 2018, is known for making controversial statements. In the past year, he has come under fire for comments about the LGBTQ community. Robinson has said abortion should take precedent over other issues.

“We cannot say that ‘Black lives matter,’ or ‘all lives matter,’ or ‘blue lives matter’ until we say ‘unborn lives matter,’ because that’s where we all start,” Robinson said at the January 2021 rally.

Robinson includes several details of his personal life under the “pro-life” section of his campaign website.

“Mark grew up as the 9th of 10 siblings. In poverty, and with an abusive alcoholic father, he ended up in foster care,” the website says.

“The radical left believes stories like [Robinson’s] should not exist because low income families should abort their babies rather than giving them the opportunity to grow up in suboptimal conditions. As a Christian, Mark will honor the sanctity of life,” the website says.

The section does not mention any personal experience with an abortion.

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