'Not a Single Republican' Kept Promise on Abortion: Governor

Cooper suggests North Carolina GOP could pay at the ballot box
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2023 2:15 PM CDT
North Carolina Governor Rips GOP on Abortion Veto Override
Republican Rep. Ted Davis Jr., center, listens Tuesday to the House debate on overriding a veto of abortion restrictions in Raleigh, N.C.   (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

After legislative Republicans overrode his veto of North Carolina's new abortion restrictions, Gov. Roy Cooper responded with fresh criticism of them on Saturday. "It's amazing how they've ignored the will of the people here," Cooper said on MSNBC, per Politico. When he vetoed the legislation a week ago, the Democrat had challenged Republicans to break ranks and not vote to override, especially those who hadn't engaged in anti-abortion rhetoric while running for office. Republicans barely have a supermajority in the state Senate and House; just one legislator voting with Democrats would have doomed the restrictions. That didn't happen.

"Not a single Republican stepped up," Cooper said. "Not a single Republican kept a campaign promise to protect women's reproductive freedom like they said they would." The Democrat suggested his party will focus on the restrictions in the 2024 presidential election as well as upcoming state races. That's the new plan of President Biden's reelection campaign, per CNN. A Democratic presidential nominee hasn't won in the state since 2008. "I told the president I believe that we can win North Carolina for him," the governor said Saturday. (More abortion debate stories.)

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