Over the wishes of Democratic governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s veto-proof Republican-controlled Senate voted Thursday to pass a twelve-week abortion ban.
Shouts of “Abortion rights now!” rang from the gallery after the Senate gave final approval along party lines to Senate Bill 20, also known as the “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act.”
#BREAKING: The North Carolina Senate approved a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks. Governor Roy Cooper is vowing to veto it, however, Republicans have a veto-proof majority. Abortion-rights advocates began chanting after the approval. pic.twitter.com/x0zrL07Un8
— Louie Tran (@louie_tran) May 4, 2023
“We are grateful more babies will be protected,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, told the New York Times. The bill “marks the end of North Carolina as a destination for abortion and is a historic step forward for unborn babies and their mothers.”
In early April, Tricia Cotham, a Democratic state representative, crossed the political aisle and handed Republicans a crucial supermajority in the lower chamber. “The modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me and to so many others throughout this state and this country,” Cotham said during a recent press conference.
“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions,” she said. “If you don’t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. They will try to cast you aside.”
Democrats will "villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgement, has solutions," says North Carolina State Rep Tricia Cotham after switching parties.
"If you don't do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. They will try to cast you aside." pic.twitter.com/Jhnn1TxXjK
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 5, 2023
While Republicans already held a supermajority in the state senate, Cotham’s move sent shock waves across the political landscape.
“Rep. Cotham’s votes on women’s reproductive freedom, election laws, LGBTQ rights and strong public schools will determine the direction of the state we love,” Governor Cooper noted in a statement. “It’s hard to believe she would abandon these long held principles and she should still vote the way she has always said she would vote when these issues arise, regardless of party affiliation.”
Cooper specifically named Cotham, along with three other Republican lawmakers, in a video address released earlier Thursday in a bid to undermine support for the bill and dismantle its veto-proof supermajority.
This bill has nothing to do with making women safer, and everything to do with banning their reproductive freedom. pic.twitter.com/nfBagT3ijz
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) May 4, 2023
“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’s reproductive freedom. There’s still time for them to keep their promises,” the governor tweeted following the news Thursday night.
The bill, already passed by the House on Wednesday night, will now go to the governor’s desk. He must act within ten days.