North Carolina legislature enacts 12-week abortion ban, overriding governor's veto

Abortion rights supporter in North Carolina

(Image credit: Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

North Carolina's Republican-led legislature voted along party lines Tuesday to override Gov. Roy Cooper's (D) veto of a 12-week abortion ban. The new restrictions will now take effect July 1.

Cooper vetoed the bill over the weekend after spending the previous week campaigning against it, trying to peel off at least one Republican to defeat the override. "How about we leave medicine to the doctors and the decisions to the women," he suggested after signing his veto. All four Republicans he targeted voted for the ban, including Rep. Tricia Cotham (R), a former pro-choice Democrat who switched parties in April, giving Republicans the supermajority they needed in both chambers to override Cooper's veto.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.