North Carolina Republicans OVERRIDE Dem Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of bill restricting abortion after 12 weeks

By arseniotoledo // 2023-05-19

Mastodon

Parler

Gab

Copy

The Republican supermajority in North Carolina's state legislature has successfully overturned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a bill restricting abortion after 12 weeks. Both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly voted strictly along party lines – 72 to 48 in the House of Representatives and 30 to 20 in the Senate – to override Cooper's veto. The state law, known as the Care for Women, Children and Families Act, amends state law to prohibit physicians from performing most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. Before this, abortion in North Carolina is generally allowed until the 20th week of pregnancy. The new law provides exceptions in the case of rape and incest through 20 weeks and for abortions through the 24th week if there is a "life-limiting anomaly" in the unborn. Physicians will also be protected from being mandated to perform procedures that would result in an abortion if they object to it "on moral, ethical or religious grounds." Furthermore, women who still qualify to receive abortions will be required to conduct in-person physician visits at least 72 hours before they have surgical abortions. Doctors must also make real-time views of fetuses available and allow women seeking abortions to listen to the heartbeats of their unborn children if they so wish.

Governor, state Democrats decry abortion restrictions, claim they are defending women's health

In his opposition to the abortion restriction law, Cooper said the state legislation would make women jump through too many hoops to receive "care" and it could lead to many healthcare facilities in the state shutting down. "Forward is the only way ahead, but I know one thing for certain: Standing in the way of progress right now is the Republican supermajority legislature that only took 48 hours to turn the clock back 50 years on women's health," said Cooper at a rally in support of his veto. "That's exactly what this bill does." (Related: Susan Swift condemns woke narrative that abortion is "healthcare" and "necessary to save women.") North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton called the new abortion law "dangerous legislation that puts politicians in the middle of deeply personal healthcare decisions and abandons the medical advice of doctors who urged lawmakers to stop this ban." State House Speaker Tim Moore said in his own statement that he was proud of how the state GOP came together to override the veto. He also called the new law "meaningful, mainstream legislation." House Speaker pro tempore Sarah Stevens further defended the legislation, arguing that it is already moderated by the desires of North Carolinian women and is "a mainstream approach" to restricting abortion. "The things in this bill are not obstacles to abortion. They're safeguards," she said. "We seek to balance protecting unborn babies while ensuring safe care of mothers." Sen. Vickie Sawyer agreed with the statements of her fellow Republicans, pointing out that North Carolinians watching the debate should take note that the Democrats are exaggerating the extent of the abortion restriction law by claiming it is "extremist." "Their anger is that this bill is mainstream and a commonsense approach to a very difficult topic," said Sawyer. Fellow GOP Sen. Amy Galey added that most North Carolinians support the new abortion regulations. "This is really in line with what the majority of North Carolinians believe and so I'm not particularly concerned about the backlash," said Galey. "It's a reasonable bill for this time." She also objected to Democrats claiming this bill is an abortion ban. "A ban is when you can't do something," Galey explained. Learn more about abortion laws in the United States at Abortions.news. Watch this clip from Newsmax as reporter Greta Van Susteren interviews former Vice President Mike Pence about how the federal government does not have the authority to approve the abortion pill. This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

CITIZENS NEWS

Governor, state Democrats decry abortion restrictions, claim they are defending women's health

More related stories: