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North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature successfully overrode the governor’s recent veto of legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks, further restricting abortion care in the state.
The override vote was completed in back-to-back sessions Tuesday night by the state House and Senate — marking a victory for the new, supermajority Republican legislature. While the state currently bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the new law bans abortions after 12 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, fetal anomalies, and if the life of the pregnant person is at risk.
The ban is set to take effect July 1.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, an abortion-rights supporter, vetoed the measure over the weekend during a rally in front of hundreds of abortion-rights activists and voters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cooper had spent the last week traveling around the state to convince Republicans to uphold his veto.
The new law, known as Senate Bill 20, severely limits abortion access for people across the South, where a number of states have banned or restricted the care since the overruling of Roe V. Wade last year.
Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.
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