North Carolina Overrides Governor’s Veto, Bans Abortion After 12 Weeks
North Carolina’s legislature passed a 12-week abortion ban in the state on Tuesday, overriding Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of the proposal earlier this week.
The new law prohibits surgical abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with an exception for rape or incest through 20 weeks, and for a “life-limiting anomaly” through 24 weeks.
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The Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature passed the measures in two-thirds majority votes. Four Republicans in the legislature had previously vowed not to restrict abortion rights in North Carolina should they be elected to office, a promise that would have nullified the vote needed to pass the bill — all of them ultimately voted in favor of the ban.
Last October, Rep. Ted Davis, one of the four Republicans, had called abortion “a very personal, moral issue.” The Wilmington Republican said, “I believe in the [existing] law. … If a woman desires to have an abortion up to 20 weeks, which is the second trimester of pregnancy, she can have an abortion.”
Rep. Tricia Cotham, who campaigned as a Democrat, switched her party affiliation to Republican during her term, and thus secured the supermajority needed by North Carolina Republicans to override a veto from Cooper.
Following the vote, Senate Democrats held up signs that read “Politicians make crappy doctors.”
30-20: The North Carolina State Senate votes to overturn Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D-NC) veto on a 12-week abortion ban. It now heads to the state House for a vote.
After the vote, Senate Democrats hold up signs that read “Politicians make crappy doctors.” pic.twitter.com/L3kRn5VS2W— The Recount (@therecount) May 16, 2023
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, North Carolina joins a slew of states implementing highly restrictive measures against women seeking abortion care, and the physicians providing them. On Tuesday, Nebraska advanced a similar 12-week ban, and in South Carolina, the state’s House of Representatives engaged in a special session to debate a proposed six-week ban.
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