RALEIGH, NC (AP) – In front of an exuberant crowd, North Carolina’s Democratic governor on Saturday vetoed legislation that would have banned nearly all abortions in his state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Hundreds of abortion rights activists and voters watched in a capital square in Raleigh as Gov. Roy Cooper put his veto stamp on the bill. The veto sets up a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to try to override Cooper’s veto after they recently won veto-proof majorities in both chambers. The bill was the Republican response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year that overturned Roe v. Wade.
“We’re going to have to kick it into even higher gear when that veto stamp comes down,” Cooper told the crowd. “If just one Republican in the House or Senate keeps a campaign promise to protect women’s reproductive health, we can stop this ban.”
Andrea Long, a 42-year-old mother of three from Cary, said she was honored to be part of an “electric” crowd on what she called a “historic day for freedom” in North Carolina. .
“I couldn’t stop crying tears of joy to see the governor keep the veto stamp, but I know it’s an uphill battle to keep that momentum going,” Long said.
Cooper, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, had until Sunday night to act on the measure that tightens current state law, which bans most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Cooper spent the week on the road talking to North Carolinians about the lesser-known impacts of the bill, urging them to press key Republican lawmakers who were hesitant about new restrictions during campaigns for office last year past The legislation passed along party lines last week in the House and Senate.
Republicans have presented the measure as an interim change to state abortion laws developed after months of private negotiations between House and Senate GOP members. It adds exceptions to the 12-week ban, extending the limit to 20 weeks for rape and incest and up to 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal abnormalities.
But Cooper has repeatedly said the details contained in the 47-page bill show the measure is not a reasonable compromise and would instead greatly erode reproductive rights.
It cites new obstacles for women to obtain abortions, such as requiring multiple in-person visits, additional paperwork to prove a patient has given informed consent for an abortion, and greater regulation of clinics offering the procedure.
Cooper and her allies have said these practice changes will shutter clinics that can’t afford major upgrades mandated by new licensing standards and make it nearly impossible for women who live in rural areas or work long hours to access services. abortion
Compared to recent actions by Republican-controlled legislatures elsewhere, the broad ban after 12 weeks can be considered less onerous than those in other states where the procedure has been banned almost entirely. But abortion rights activists have argued that it is more restrictive than it appears and will have far-reaching consequences. Since Roe was overturned, many patients traveling from more restrictive states have become dependent on North Carolina as a location for abortions later in pregnancy.
Republicans call the legislation pro-family and pro-child, pointing to at least $160 million in spending contained in maternal health services, foster care and adoption, contraceptive services and paid leave for teachers and state employees after the birth of a child .
Cooper singled out four GOP lawmakers — three House members and one senator — who he said made “campaign promises to protect women’s reproductive health.” Anti-abortion groups accused Cooper of trying to intimidate them.
One of those House members is Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County, who voted for the bill just weeks after switching from the Democratic Party to the GOP. The measure gave Republicans a veto-proof supermajority if all their lawmakers are present and voting.
Cotham has spoken out for abortion rights in the past and even earlier this year co-sponsored a bill to codify abortion protections into state law. Rep. Ted Davis of Wilmington, another targeted lawmaker, was the only Republican absent from last week’s initial House vote. The Senate margin was already veto-proof after GOP gains last November.
Davis said last fall that he supported “what the law is in North Carolina now,” which was a 20-week limit. Davis has declined to comment on the bill, but House Speaker Tim Moore recently said Davis is a “yes” vote for an override.
