North Carolina House approves measure banning abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy

The North Carolina state House passed a bill Wednesday that would ban abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, sending it to the state Senate for approval. 

The House vote came just a day after Republicans in both legislative chambers announced they had reached an agreement on legislation to further restrict abortion access from the state’s current 20-week limit. 

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vowed to veto the bill, but Republicans gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers after one House Democrat from a liberal-leaning area switched parties to become a Republican last month. 

The bill passed the House along party lines in a 71-46 vote, with one Republican absent, after an hourlong debate. 

The legislation would establish that most abortions would need to be performed within 12 weeks, around the end of the first trimester. It would include a few exceptions to allow abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest through 20 weeks, for fatal fetal anomalies through 24 weeks, and to protect the life of the mother without a limit. 

House Speaker Tim Moore (R) said after the vote that the chamber “absolutely” has the votes needed to override Cooper’s veto. 

The law would be a significant rollback of abortion rights in the state but would be not nearly as strict as the laws that more than a dozen states have passed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade decision last year. 

Some Republicans wished to go further in banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy, but negotiators settled on 12 weeks. 

“We talked about everything — what went too far, what didn’t go far enough — and where we could finally come to a consensus was 12 weeks,” said Rep. Sarah Stevens (R). 

Cooper told his followers in a tweet that they should not let the bill “fool” them as it still will ban access to “reproductive freedom earlier and sometimes altogether” for many women in the state. 

The legislation also includes $160 million for programs to improve child care access and maternal health care, encourage families to take in foster children and provide contraceptives to low-income or uninsured individuals. 

It also includes funding for eight weeks of paid leave for state employees and teachers. 

But it would also include other abortion restrictions that Cooper has vetoed in the past, including prohibitions on women getting an abortion based on race or a diagnosis of Down syndrome in the fetus and requirements for medical providers to care for children born alive during a failed late-term abortion. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.