North Carolina 12-Week Abortion Ban: Lawmakers Pass Bill Following Close Vote

North Carolina passes new 12-week abortion ban, prompting opposition from state Gov. Roy Cooper
The vote is seen as a test of the GOP's new but slim supermajority
Cooper said that he plans to veto the bill as he has ten days to act on the measure

North Carolina lawmakers passed a new 12-week abortion ban after a close vote that followed a five-hour debate, prompting opposition from state Gov. Roy Cooper.

The Thursday passing of the bill is believed to set the stage for a potential test of the Republican Party's new but slim supermajority. The Senate passed the legislation by a vote of 29-20, pushing the bill forward after it was passed by the House the night before.

North Carolina Passes 12-Week Abortion Ban

Following the vote, the bill would not go to North Carolina's Democratic governor, Cooper, who called the measure "extreme" and revealed his plans to veto it. However, the legislature can override the governor's veto if Republican lawmakers keep their party united and get enough votes, per the New York Times.

On Thursday, Cooper posted a video on Twitter where he urged North Carolina residents to help uphold his veto by pressuring the four GOP lawmakers who campaigned to protect women's reproductive health from breaking their party over the new measure.

If the bill pushes through, it will reduce abortion access in North Carolina which currently allows the procedure for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Furthermore, it would curb access throughout the South as the state has become a destination for women who want to get the procedure.

The situation comes as many other states have started to push to ban or limit abortion since the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which put the right to abortion in the Constitution.

Potential Veto of the New Bill

The latest development follows several failed attempts of other, more conservative states to pass strict abortion measures. Last week, South Carolina lawmakers could not advance a near-total ban on abortion. On the other hand, officials from Nebraska failed to push abortion restrictions after six weeks of talks amid fears of backlash from voters, according to the Washington Post.

Republicans in North Carolina have hoped that the 12-week ban on abortion would become a model for the rest of the United States and have portrayed it as a "mainstream" alternative to other abortion bans that criminalize the procedure much earlier in a woman's pregnancy.

The legislation allows up to about 90% of abortions to continue, making it the first ban on the procedure to pass since the fall of Roe v. Wade that does not criminalize all or the majority of abortions being done.

The new measure would also include some exceptions, specifically for cases of rape, incest, or fetal abnormality. Furthermore, there is an existing exception for when the pregnant woman's life was placed in danger due to her carriage of her baby, which the new measure would maintain moving forward, said NBC News.