KNIFE EDGE

Lone Republican Could Decide North Carolina Abortion Ban After House Passes Bill

The bill would dramatically cut the state’s current 20-week abortion limit.

New abortion restrictions in North Carolina could be decided by the vote of a single GOP lawmaker after the state’s House passed a bill to impose a 12-week limit on Wednesday. The bill, which would outlaw elective abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy except in cases of rape, incest, medical emergencies, and life-limiting fetal anomalies, passed along party lines in a 71-46 vote. Two Democrats and one Republican did not vote. If the bill passes as expected in the state Senate Thursday, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper will likely veto the new restrictions. But Republicans could use their House supermajority to overrule the veto if the Republican who abstained—Rep. Ted Davis—votes to support the move. Among those who voted in favor of the bill Wednesday was Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Democrat who changed her affiliation to the GOP in April. Last year, Cotham tweeted that the U.S. needs “leaders who will be unwavering and unapologetic in their support of abortion rights.”