Gov. Cooper vetoes abortion bill in front of supporters and anti-abortion protesters

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the abortion restrictions bill on Saturday at a rally with hundreds of supporters on Bicentennial Plaza, across the street from the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

“There is nothing mainstream about this bill. They hid the dirty details of it. You know why? Because they didn’t want you to show up,” Cooper said to loud cheers from the large crowd of abortion rights supporters who booed every time the term-limited governor mentioned the GOP and its veto-proof supermajority in the legislature.

At the same time, demonstrators protesting Cooper’s veto of the bill, which would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, gathered in front of the legislative building to counter the governor’s rally.

Saturday’s showdown between supporters and opponents of the Republican bill came after a weeklong effort by Cooper to highlight opposition to the new restrictions and put political pressure on a handful of Republican lawmakers who had previously expressed support for less restrictive abortion laws but signed on to support the 12-week bill along with the rest of their colleagues.

Republicans, who control supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, are expected to hold swift votes to override Cooper’s veto and enact the new restrictions into state law.

In a statement after Cooper’s rally, Senate leader Phil Berger promised to quickly take up the override process, which will begin in the Senate and then move on to the House.

“Gov. Cooper has spent the last week actively feeding the public lies about Senate Bill 20 and bullying members of the General Assembly,” Berger said. “He has been doing everything he can, including wasting taxpayer money on poorly attended events, to avoid talking about his own extreme views on abortion.”

“I look forward to promptly overriding his veto.”

Standing in front of banners that said “Stop the bans,” Cooper led the crowd in applauding Democratic lawmakers, some of whom were at the rally, for sticking together and voting against the bill.

“This bill has nothing to do with making women safer, and everything to do with banning abortion,” Cooper said.

Cooper also criticized Republicans for fast-tracking the bill through the legislature. Lawmakers passed the bill out of both chambers within 48 hours of when it was unveiled to the public.

Republicans have defended that process, saying that the bill was the product of months of internal party deliberations, and represents a “mainstream” consensus position among GOP ranks.

Democrats have blasted that assertion, saying it was unfair for the bill to be passed through a special process that didn’t allow them to offer any amendments.

“There is nothing mainstream about this bill!” Cooper roared over the speakers.

Before Cooper took to the stage, the crowd heard from Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for governor and is expected to lock up his party’s nomination and face off against the Republican presumptive front runner, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.

Stein said Republicans know their bill is “profoundly unpopular,” and said that was why they drafted it “behind closed doors.” He said it was important Democrats focus on trying to defeat the bill when Republicans try to break Cooper’s veto. But GOP leaders have said they are confident they’ll be able to circumvent the governor.

In addition, Stein said it’s critical that Democrats continue to “mobilize over the next 18 months, because we have to win elections.”

“Today is not a day to accept defeat,” Stein said. “Today is the day to double down and fight.”

While the rally went on, about 100 anti-abortion protesters gathered in front of the Legislative Building to listen to speeches urging Cooper not to veto the bill. Speakers prayed aloud and led chants.

April Gonzalez, a volunteer with Students for Life Action, said in an interview, “We’re here to show that life comes with joy and pregnancy is not burdensome. But it’s a communal effort. You might be pregnant physically and carry the baby on your own, but you should have a spouse and trusted others to help you raise your child with joy.”

“Y’all’s governor is going to hell and he wants to invite death and destruction into the state,” said Mark Lee Dickson, one of the speakers.

John Amanchukwu, another of the anti-abortion speakers, said in an interview, “We love the people who disagree with us. You know, that’s what scripture tells us to do. … We love everyone that’s over there, celebrating killing babies in the womb the day before Mother’s Day. That’s so inhumane, so insensitive.”

Cooper said last week he would veto the bill during Saturday’s rally.

The House and Senate passed the bill the first week in May along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats against.

How a veto override works

A veto override vote could be held in the next few days. Because it is a Senate bill, the override vote would have to be called first in the Senate. Senate Rules say that Rules Chair Bill Rabon, a Southport Republican, will give 24 hours’ notice to the Senate’s minority leader, Democratic Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh.

Cooper spent this past week holding roundtables in Mecklenburg, New Hanover and Guilford counties about the abortion bill. Mecklenburg is the home county of Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham, who switched from the Democratic Party in April, giving Republicans the supermajority. She voted for the bill, even though as a Democrat she repeatedly supported upholding Roe v. Wade.

SB 20 bans abortions after 12 weeks and requires in-person doctor visits for ending a pregnancy with a pill at 10 weeks. Exceptions are up to 20 weeks for rape and incest, up to 24 weeks for life-altering fetal anomalies and no limit to protect the life of the mother. Republicans debated out of public view for months about what would be in the bill, from not changing North Carolina’s current law of restrictions after 20 weeks, to a total ban.

The 12-week ban was the middle ground within their political caucus. Other Republican-controlled states have passed laws with total bans or “heartbeat” bans at six weeks. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee have total abortion bans with very limited medical exceptions, The N&O previously reported, and Georgia has a heartbeat ban.

Protesters filled the public viewing gallery in the House on Wednesday and Senate last week as lawmakers debated the bill for hours before passing it along party lines. The bill was fast-tracked to pass in one week, and only went through one committee hearing.

In addition to the rally organized by Cooper on Saturday, another “Sustain the Veto” rally was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Asheville, planned by Buncombe County Democrats.