Both houses of the North Carolina legislature passed a bill to restrict abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The GOP-supported measure passed along party lines in the Senate Thursday, and Governor Cooper is expected to veto it. The new supermajority created by Rep. Tricia Cotham switches parties means any veto could be overridden.
The vote follows the Dobbs Supreme Court decision last summer which found no federal Constitutional right to abortion.
In Western North Carolina, access to abortion clinics has been limited since before the Dobbs Decision.
On Thursday, several Democratic senators attempted to raise challenges to the measure based on the state Constitution.
The House and Senate vote took place over 48 hours starting unexpectedly on Wednesday. The bill made it through legislative crossover week – a self-imposed deadline when bills need to be heard in both chambers in order to be able to move forward during the session.
Senator Michael Garrett of Guilford tried to lodge a constitutional challenge, but Senate Pro Tem President Phil Berger denied the request.
“The Constitution of North Carolina pre-empts our rules,” Garett said.
“Five seconds will be allowed for the vote and the clerk of court will record the vote,” Berger interjected.
Berger called for an immediate vote in the House. The 29-20 vote fell on party lines sending the bill to the Governor’s mansion.
The result was met with chants from abortion rights supporters in the gallery of “Abortion rights now!” and “Shame!”
Local abortion access advocacy organizations in Western North Carolina lamented that it was already very difficult for people in the region to access abortion care.
There are currently 14 abortion clinics in the state located in 9 different counties.
There is only one clinic in the region West of Charlotte that provides abortion access. Maren Hurley, co-founder of Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective said that they saw an increase in needs from neighboring states have meant more people coming to North Carolina for care.
“The ripple effect essentially like compounds all of the existing problems in the other states. We're about to see like a collapse that has like abortion access in most of the states that border North Carolina,” Hurley said in June 2022.
At Planned Parenthood in North Carolina, about 1/3 of the patients for abortion care are from out of state. Asheville’s Planned Parenthood clinic has some of the highest rates of out-of-state patients with about 80% of clients coming from out-of-state.
The number has increased from previous years. In August 2022, 74 percent of the patients at the Asheville Planned Parenthood were from out-of-state in, compared to 37 percent in August 2021.
The new bill passed by the Senate means that it will ever more difficult for North Carolinians and those from neighboring states to access abortion, according to a Planned Parenthood spokesperson.
“This is a horrendous, monster abortion ban cloaked in medical misinformation, misdirection, and straight-up lies,” said Jillian Riley, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic in a statement.
“Anti-abortion politicians have rolled up a ban on abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy into a far-reaching bill with new, severe restrictions that will make it much harder to provide abortion care and for patients to get an abortion even before 12 weeks," she said. "Politicians are putting pregnant people at risk and stripping us of our rights to build our families and futures. ”
Anti-abortion advocates said the legislation is a good first step but that it does not go far enough.
“We will continue to work tirelessly to save babies in North Carolina. Life is a human right and babies with a heartbeat in our state are still at risk of an induced abortion up to 12 weeks. We will work to educate the voters of North Carolina to elect a pro-life governor who will sign historic legislation to protect life once an infant’s heart begins to beat,” Jason Williams, executive director of NC Faith and Freedom Coalition, said in a statement.
After the vote on Thursday evening, Governor Cooper tweeted, “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.”
