2023-05-17 02:46:24
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill banning most abortions following 12 weeks’ gestation will become law in North Carolina as the Republican majority in the General Assembly struck down Tuesday. the veto of the Democratic governor.
The House of Representatives completed the second and final part of the override vote Tuesday night, following a similar three-fifths share voted to override the veto hours earlier in the Senate. The result represents a major victory for Republican leaders in the state Congress, who needed the full force of the party to enact the law in the face of opposition from Gov. Roy Cooper.
Cooper vetoed the measure over the weekend, following spending the past week on a tour of the state trying to convince at least one Republican to ratify the veto.
Republicans have promoted the measure as an interim change to state law, which currently bans nearly all abortions following 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
The vote came as abortion rights across the country faced another fundamental shift, as lawmakers weighed strict restrictions on abortion rights in North Carolina and South Carolina, two of the few states in the Old South of the country that still had relatively easy access.
Nebraska was another state debating abortion restrictions Tuesday, made possible by the federal Supreme Court last year’s invalidation of the landmark Roe v. Wade Act of 1973, which established a national right to terminate a pregnancy.
Under another bill to be voted on Tuesday in the South Carolina House of Representatives, access to abortion would be almost completely prohibited following six weeks of pregnancy. The state Senate rejected a proposal to make the procedure almost completely illegal.
Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the country’s Old South and is currently banned throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. In Georgia, it is only allowed during the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Today, the Carolinas, Florida, and Virginia are the top destinations in the region for women seeking legal abortion. Florida has a ban that goes into effect following 15 weeks of pregnancy. Under a recent law, that would be reduced to six weeks, pending a court decision. Farther west, the women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, or Colorado.
Nationwide, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.
If the bans become law in the Carolinas, coupled with the recent restriction in Florida, “it would be simply devastating for abortion access in the (Old) South,” said Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
During the debate in the North Carolina Senate, Republicans pointed out that Cooper ignored the $160 million included in the bill that would boost funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce maternal and infant mortality and provide paid maternity leave to teachers and state employees.
“North Carolinians watching this debate are witnessing overblown and extreme objections from some Democrats,” said Republican Senator Vickie Sawyer. “His anger is that this bill is conventional and a common sense stance on a very complicated issue.”
Democrats focused on the details of the abortion rules, which they noted would place barriers between women and their doctors, leaving pregnant women in danger.
And the 12-week limit means young women would have regarding a couple of weeks to decide if an abortion is the right thing to do, leading them to continue with unwanted pregnancies, said Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus.
“This bill is a slap in the face. It’s a muzzle on our mouths and it’s a straitjacket on our body,” Marcus said. After the vote in the Senate, cries of “Shame on you!” might be heard. from outside the enclosure.
Anti-abortion protesters who arrived hours before the vote packed the gallery of the North Carolina Senate, and regarding 150 supporters of the proposed ban held identical “Vote Pro-Life” signs.
“So many Republicans have succumbed to pressure from all the groups that are just full of hate and are pushing things that are once morest God,” said Sharon Dooley, a 63-year-old resident of Garner, North Carolina.
In South Carolina, the impasse dates back to a special session last fall, when state representatives calling for a near-total ban failed to meet to negotiate with their fellow Senate members who were advocating a ban on the six weeks.
The impasse persisted even following the state Supreme Court in January struck down an earlier law that prohibited abortions once cardiac activity was detected in the embryo.
That decision left abortion legalized up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The sharp increase in proceedings since then has riled Republicans.
Meanwhile, Nebraska lawmakers were scheduled to debate a proposal that would ban abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal came following lawmakers last month rejected a bill that would have banned abortion following detection of cardiac activity in the embryo.
“Today marks the start of North Carolina’s first real step toward becoming a pro-life state,” Tami Fitsgerald, executive director of the conservative-leaning North Carolina Values Coalition, said following the House vote.
Senate Republicans said Gov. Cooper ignored $160 million included in the measure that would bolster funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce maternal and infant mortality and provide paid maternity leave for state employees and teachers.
The new restrictions on abortion, which will take effect on July 1, provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest up to 20 weeks of pregnancy and for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies up to the first 24 weeks. A current exception will remain in force for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger.
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Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writers James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, NJ, Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia contributed to this report. Schoenbaum and Pollard are members of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on little-known topics.
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