North Carolina abortion ban sets off heated veto override battle

Gov.
Roy Cooper
(D-NC) vowed to veto
North Carolina’s
new 12-week
abortion
ban on May 13, setting up a pressure campaign to flip one Republican state senator to stop a veto override.

Both pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion groups are spending resources on the override fight, as all 30 Republican senators and 72 Republican representatives are needed to reverse Cooper’s decision on a
bill
that was advertised as “veto-proof.”

CONNECTICUT LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE SAYS IT WILL PAY FOR STUDENTS TO GET ABORTIONS

Cooper
launched a campaign
to flip at least one Republican caucus member, making public pleas, appearances on CBS, CNN, and local news stations, as well as
visiting
Mecklenburg and New Hanover counties, to talk about “women’s reproductive health” and paint the Republican compromise bill as “extreme.”

The North Carolina Democrat specifically targeted Mecklenburg-area GOP state Reps. Tricia Cotham, who switched parties last month, giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in the House, and John Bradford.

“Reps. Cotham and Bradford specifically promised to protect women’s reproductive freedom, and we want the people of Mecklenburg County to ask that they keep that promise,” Cooper said.

Abortion giant
Planned Parenthood
and the
Democratic Socialists of America
have also been active in the Tar Heel State, trying to rally pro-abortion rights advocates to call lawmakers, rally against the “monster abortion ban,” and “defend and extend the right to abortion the way it was won: with a fighting mass movement of protests and workplace actions,” according to the DSA.

“We’re doing everything we can to reach people under a really tight deadline and let them know that yes, Gov. Cooper has already made plans to veto this bill, but that’s not the end of this fight,” Planned Parenthood South Atlantic communications director Molly Rivera
told
the Guardian.

Anti-abortion organizations are
joining the influence fight
as well, with SBA Pro-Life America and the North Carolina Values Coalition taking out a $40,000 digital ad buy and talking to lawmakers in the state.

“We are fully engaged in talking to legislators, leadership, and allies,” SBA Southern Regional Director Caitlin Connors told the Washington Examiner. “We are confident the will of the people to protect babies and serve mothers will prevail over Gov. Cooper’s efforts to bully lawmakers to support his agenda for late-term abortions in North Carolina.”

Connors also called out Cooper’s “abortion-on-demand agenda” in a press release, stating, “We thank North Carolina legislators for siding with the people over Gov. Cooper on protecting babies who can feel pain from abortion and allocating $160 million to support women and families.”

North Carolina’s current abortion restrictions, banning the procedure at about 20 weeks in most situations, is significantly more permissive than most Southern states and
made North Carolina an abortion destination
. The 12-week ban would still be less stringent than in certain neighboring states where abortion is prohibited or banned at six weeks.

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If enacted, the North Carolina legislation would prohibit abortions for reasons of the baby’s race, sex, or Down syndrome diagnosis and requires doctors to administer lifesaving procedures to save babies who survive botched abortion attempts.

It also puts millions of dollars toward child care, reducing infant and maternal mortality, maternity and paternity leave, foster care, and helping parents finish school.