{"id":290566,"date":"2023-05-16T21:10:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T02:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=290566"},"modified":"2023-05-16T21:10:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T02:10:54","slug":"north-carolina-12-week-abortion-veto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/north-carolina-12-week-abortion-veto\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina legislature overrides governor’s veto of 12-week abortion bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UPDATE, May 16, 2023:<\/strong> The North Carolina Legislature has overridden Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 20. NBC News reports<\/a>, “The Senate voted 30-20 along party lines<\/a>, as did the House, which holds a 72-48 Republican majority.” Fox News notes, “The legislation would outlaw most abortions<\/u><\/a> after the 12-week mark, with special exemptions carved out for complicated cases, such as when the life of the mother is at risk. Abortion is currently law in the state up to 20 weeks. The new law would restrict abortions in North Carolina to 12 weeks and takes effect July 1.”<\/p>\n

NC Values Coalition executive director Tami Fitzgerald stated in an email:<\/p>\n

With this veto override, legislators have rejected Governor Cooper\u2019s extreme, unreasonable position of abortion without restriction up to birth. This pro-woman legislation has $160 million in funding to help pregnant mothers including $75 million for childcare, $59 million for foster care, kinship care and children\u2019s homes, $16 million to reduce infant and maternal mortality, and $3 million to help mothers complete college. We sincerely thank Senator Berger, Speaker Moore, and Republican legislators for standing strong and voting on behalf of the 62% of North Carolinians who reject abortion after 12 weeks….<\/em><\/p>\n

UPDATE, May 13, 2023: <\/strong>North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed<\/a> the state’s\u00a0Senate Bill 20<\/a>, known as the\u00a0Care for Women, Children, and Families Act. The bill lowers the abortion limit in the state from 20 to 12 weeks, but contains exceptions for rape and incest through 20 weeks and for a “life-threatening anomaly” through 24 weeks. It also prohibits the distribution of the abortion pill through the mail and requres two in-person doctor visits before a woman can receive an abortion.<\/p>\n

North Carolina’s General Assembly have the ability to override his veto.\u00a0Senate leader Phil Berger accused Cooper on Saturday of \u201cfeeding the public lies\u201d and \u201cbullying\u201d members of his party to block the legislation. \u201cI look forward to promptly overriding his veto,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

May 5, 2023<\/strong>: Lawmakers in the North Carolina Senate passed a bill<\/a> Thursday that would keep abortion legal through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, just one day after the bill passed the House. Though Governor Roy Cooper has vowed to veto the bill, the GOP supermajority in the legislature has the potential to override any veto.<\/p>\n

Cooper is currently attempting to pressure any single Republican to change his or her vote to uphold his veto, portraying the gestational limit as “dangerous.” However,\u00a0most Americans want abortions limited<\/a> to the first trimester of pregnancy or even further restricted.<\/p>\n

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We only need one Republican in either the House or Senate to help sustain the veto of this dangerous abortion ban. Ted Davis, Michael Lee, John Bradford and Tricia Cotham promised to protect women\u2019s reproductive freedom. There\u2019s still time for them to keep their promises. – RC<\/p>\n

— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) May 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n