North Carolina Republicans override governor's veto of abortion ban

North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly voted late Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill banning abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

The Senate voted 30-20, and the House followed suit in a 72-48 vote. 

The bill, S.B. 20, includes exemptions for abortions up to 20 weeks in cases of rape and incest and up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases of fetal anomalies. The bill gives a physician unlimited time for abortion care if the life of the pregnant person is in danger. 

The bill, which becomes law and goes into effect July 1, additionally requires an in-person meeting with a doctor 72 hours before an abortion procedure. 

In a statement following the votes, Cooper said: “North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on women’s reproductive freedom and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues. I will continue doing everything I can to protect abortion access in North Carolina because women’s lives depend on it.”

The result of the votes to override Cooper’s veto was made possible in large part due to a party switch by state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who was elected as a Democrat in 2022, but declared herself a Republican in April, giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in the House. Cotham ran on a platform of support for abortion rights, but voted along with her Republican colleagues to override Cooper’s veto. 

“After extensive review, I believe this bill strikes a reasonable balance on the abortion issue and represents a middle ground that anyone not holding one of the two extremist positions can support,” Cotham said in a statement after the House voted. 

In the weeks running up to the votes, Cooper pressured Cotham, Republican Reps. Ted Davis and John Bradford, and Republican Sen. Michael Lee, who had all expressed support for protecting abortion rights during their campaigns, but to no avail. 

“If just one Republican in either the House or the Senate keeps a campaign promise to protect women’s reproductive health, we can stop this ban,” Cooper had said before he vetoed the bill Saturday, the Washington Post reported. 

The bill requires patients to have a doctor verify that the gestational age of the fetus is under 70 days, or 10 weeks, in order to receive abortion medication such as mifepristone. 

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 54% of all abortion procedures are done using medications. 

“The line that this is a 12-week ban is a lie. It is absolutely a lie, and it is not a compromise bill that the people of North Carolina … asked for or wanted,” state Sen. Julie Mayfield said after the vote, according to The Hill. 

In a statement sent to the News & Observer in Raleigh, Sadie Weiner, a spokesperson for Cooper, said: “Clinic operators and lawyers have made clear that they believe this bill prevents them from providing medication abortion after 10 weeks. Republicans either need to read the bill they wrote and voted for or stop drafting legislation in secret and ramming it through in 48 hours with absolutely no input from providers, doctors or the public.”

In the months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans. Reuters reported that abortions in North Carolina were up by 37% in the first two months after the decision. 

Democrats in North Carolina argued that the bill’s requisite in-person visit with a doctor will have serious consequences for residents and those traveling into the state seeking abortion care, particularly since the procedures have been severely restricted in bordering states such as Tennessee and Georgia. 

“You as lawmakers are betraying your constituents and knowingly putting North Carolinians in danger. …This monster abortion ban will lead to substandard care,” Democratic state Sen. Gladys Robinson said.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.