Republican North Carolina lawmakers approve abortion ban after 12 weeks
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Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vowed to block the measure, but Republican lawmakers say they have the votes to override his veto.
The Republican-controlled North Carolina state Senate on Thursday passed legislation that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, restricting abortion rights in the state, according to The Washington Post.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has promised to veto Senate Bill 20, but Republicans now hold veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers, after a House Democrat switched parties last month, and say they have votes to enact the law despite Cooper's veto.
The measure sped through the legislature this week when it passed both houses with party-line votes less than 48 hours after it was introduced.
Gov. Roy Cooper doubled down on his promise to veto the abortion ban in a video statement posted on Twitter Thursday and called on a handful of Republicans, including Cotham, to follow through on their campaign promises.
“Several of them promised their constituents that they would protect women's reproductive rights,” Cooper told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday night. “We want to force them to keep these promises.”
North Carolina Republicans are pushing an extreme abortion ban that will cause many clinics to shut their doors and dramatically reduce women's health care freedom. pic.twitter.com/t6wwsYnuug
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) May 4, 2023
North Carolina Republicans said they hope the ban on abortion after 12 weeks will become a model for the rest of the country, presenting the bill as a “conventional” alternative to abortion bans that ban it in the earliest stage of pregnancy.
It is the first new abortion ban passed since the overturning of Roe v. Wade that does not ban all or most abortions, allowing approximately 90% of abortions to continue.
Under current state law, abortions are legal up to 20 weeks into the pregnancy. A reduction to 12 weeks would be significant but less restrictive than some other GOP-led states that have recently enacted six-week or near-total bans on the procedure.
In addition, the bill would prohibit any healthcare provider who opposes abortion “on moral, ethical, or religious grounds” from being required to participate in medical procedures that would result in an abortion.
Democratic lawmakers in the state expressed particular concern about a provision that requires patients to have an in-person consultation with a doctor at least 72 hours before an abortion, in addition to the visit required for the abortion itself.
The additional in-person visit would make it more difficult for out-of-state patients to travel to North Carolina, which has become a destination for people seeking abortions throughout the American South, where most states have restricted it to the maximum.