Weekly Recap: Catch up on the news you missed from 4/30-5/6
North Carolina lawmakers rammed through an abortion bill and advanced a number of measures heading into the state's crossover deadline.
Took a little while to produce this week’s recap, with all the news that happened. Let’s dive into it…
Fast-tracked abortion bill heads to Gov. Cooper
The North Carolina House and Senate approved a bill that stands to make abortion far less accessible, reducing the time in which all women can get an abortion from 20 weeks to 12 weeks and imposing stricter rules on how the medical procedure can be administered.
Senate Bill 20 allows for some abortion exceptions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, including rape and incest up to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, life-limiting fetal anomalies up to 24 weeks and the life of the mother at all stages of pregnancy.
The bill also includes a number of spending items and policy changes.
Women wouldn’t be allowed to seek an abortion based on the actual or presumed race of their unborn child or the actual or presumed presence of Down syndrome, and doctors would be required to offer the same duty of care for a child who is born alive after an attempted abortion that they would for any other newborn baby — language similar to a pair of measures previously vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2019 and 2021.
Assaulting a pregnant woman and domestic violence assault would become a Class A1 misdemeanor. Additionally, full-time state workers or employees at K-12 public schools, community colleges and UNC System institutions would get up to eight weeks of maternity leave and four weeks of paternity leave.
SB20 would largely take immediate effect. It now goes to Cooper, who must act on the bill by the end of day on Sunday, May 14. Cooper has committed to veto the measure, while Republican lawmakers have vowed to override the governor as early as May 16 so the bill can become law over his objection.
Republicans see the proposal as a comprehensive measure that goes beyond the state’s current 20-week limit but not so far as the six-week limit some in the GOP had hoped.
“This is mainstream, common-sense legislation,” Republican Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Forsyth County said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “You will hear that it’s extreme. Emails have already gone out swirling out all over the world that this is an abortion ban. It’s totally untrue. This is a pro-life plan, not an abortion ban.”
Democrats and groups supporting access to abortion view the measure as a radical step toward an outright ran, warning it will shutter most abortion clinics and impose additional burdens on physicians and health systems that could make accessible to the medical procedure out of reach for many rural and low-income residents.
“The fine print requirements and restrictions will shut down clinics and make abortion completely unavailable to many women at any time, causing desperation and death,” Cooper said in a video statement shortly after the Senate passed the bill on Thursday.
Where will abortion be legal?
Women would be able to get a drug-induced abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The 10-week medication limit is a result of U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules. According to the FDA, “Mifeprex (mifepristone) and its generic Mifepristone Tablets, 200 mg (collectively mifepristone) are approved, in a regimen with misoprostol, to end an intrauterine pregnancy through ten weeks gestation.”
Surgical abortions would be available through the 12th week of pregnancy in hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities or licensed abortion clinics. After 12 weeks, such abortions would only be permissible in hospitals.
Regardless of the method a woman chooses, she would need to fill out a consent form 72 hours before a surgical or drug-inducted abortion takes place.
Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice North Carolina and other organizations warn that most of the 14 clinics in the state that currently provide abortions would not be allowed to operate under additional licensing requirements the bill could have the North Carolina Medical Commission impose by Oct. 1.
I’ve provided a map here detailing where abortions are currently available. Planned Parenthood operates six of the 14 sites in the state, none of which would be able to operate under the bill’s provisions. The remaining eight sites are still reviewing the bill to determine its impact on them, according to Pro-Choice NC.
I created a map of all 14 abortion sites here, with six in red as possibly unable to administer the medical procedure in the near future and the remaining eight in yellow as their status is still being reviewed.
“Planned Parenthood South Atlantic does not have any health center in North Carolina that currently meets all of the requirements of that license,” Molly Rivera, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic told me by email. “Many facilities will not be able to meet them in the near future (and they may be forced to close). It entirely depends on what the commission ultimately does.”
North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services says it’s examining the potential impacts of the abortion bill.
“NCDHHS is still reviewing SB 20 and is not yet able to determine if any existing health care settings who perform abortions will be able to do so if this legislation becomes law,” spokesperson Kelly Haight Connor told me by email. “The same rules and regulations apply to facilities whether they are performing surgical abortions or medication abortions.”
🏃A rushed process🏁
It’s hard to discuss the abortion bill without also mentioning the unusually fast process through which it cleared the legislature. In under 48 hours, the bill went from introduction to full passage — notably less than the 72-hour window a woman would have to wait to get an abortion.
The measure was introduced late Tuesday night as a conference report drafted by a group of 11 Republicans, bypassed the traditional committee process on Wednesday, provided no allowance for amendments in either chamber and had minimal time for discussion or debate.
Even so, Democrats did their best, particularly on the Senate side, to drag out the process. All 20 Senate Democrats spoke on the floor, with most going near or past their 10 minutes of allotted speaking time per person. In total, the four and a half hour bill debate was the longest any bill had for discussion in the chamber in more than a decade, according to the office of Senate leader Phil Berger.
But even then, it’s worth noting that a normal bill process would’ve allowed for up to 45 minutes of speaking time per person— or at least 15 hours of debate from Democrats alone.
“I just don’t believe that this is how democracy should work,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said during the first and only committee hearing on Wednesday.
What happens next
The bill will next be vetoed by Cooper, the state’s Democratic governor who has long opposed measures limiting access to abortion. In order for his veto to be sustained, he’ll need help from at least one Republican.
But GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore have expressed confidence they have all the votes needed among their members to override the governor.
The Senate passed the abortion bill 29-20, and the one absent Republican is expected to support an override. The House passed the abortion bill 71-46. Two absent Democrats have vowed to sustain Cooper’s veto. Meanwhile, one absent Republican (Rep. Ted Davis) will vote to override Cooper, according to Moore.
Cooper on Thursday singled out four GOP lawmakers— Sen. Michael Lee and Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County and Reps. John Bradford and Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County— and urged residents to contact them to demand they vote to sustain his veto.
"[They] made campaign promises to protect women's reproductive health. Demand that they keep their promises,” Cooper said in a video posted on Twitter.
As I noted in a fact-check on Friday, Cooper lacked much a case for Lee, who campaigned on a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks, which is precisely what SB20 does. Bradford, however, said he wouldn’t seek to impose additional limits beyond the state’s current 20-week law. Cotham, who has a long history of supporting access to abortion, most recently sponsored a bill to codify Roe v. Wade into law. Her vote in favor of SB20 is an abrupt departure from her longstanding views expressed on the issue.
Davis would likely be Cooper’s best hope, as he has said he wouldn’t let Moore dictate his votes on abortion. Even so, Moore insists Davis will side with all his fellow Republicans on an override vote.
⏰Crossover deadline
Thursday was the “crossover deadline,” or period required of most bills to clear their chamber of origin in order to stay alive. While there was minimal advancement of bills on the Senate side, the House this week approved a flurry of bills.
It’s worth noting that bills that didn’t meet the deadline aren’t necessarily permanently defeated because they can still advance when committees gut and amend bills that appear before them or other procedural maneuvers by GOP leaders.
With that said, here are some of the bills that did and didn’t survive crossover week:
SURVIVED
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements: House Bill 98 cleared the House floor on April 26. If enacted, public schools, state agencies and local governments wouldn’t be allowed to deny a person employment solely because of their refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Compelled Speech: House Bill 607 cleared the House this past week with support from two Democrats and all attending Republicans. It would prohibit community colleges and public colleges and universities in the state from asking potential students or employees about their personal views on things associated with “contemporary political debate or social action.”
Charter School Review: House Bill 618 passed the House this past week with support from four Democrats and all attending Republicans. It would convert the Charter Schools Advisory Board into the Charter Schools Review Board and shift authority to approve charters from the State Board of Education to the Review Board.
Venus Flytraps: The final action from the House this week: Unanimously approving a specialty license plate for the Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant native to North Carolina. Under House Bill 734, the state Division of Motor Vehicles would create a special registration plate starting July 1 that says “Home of the Venus Flytrap.” The specialty plate would cost $30. Two-thirds of the proceeds would go to the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation for plant conservation and research.
Curriculum Recommendations: House Bill 756 cleared the House on April 27 with support from two Democrats and all attending Republicans. It would create a Standard Course of Study Advisory Commission to recommend academic standards to the State Board of Education.
Deleting Mugshots: House Bill 778, which unanimously cleared the House this past week, would establish a process where news organizations and websites would have to remove mugshots from their website upon the request of people who show that there was no criminal conviction related to their arrest and submit written documentation that the criminal charge related to their arrest was either dismissed, expunged, acquitted or that a grand jury returned no true bill on a proposed indictment.
Gender-Affirming Surgery for Minors: Under House Bill 808, which was approved by two Democrats and all House Republicans this past week, would prohibit doctors prohibit from providing or referring out surgical gender transitions procedures to residents under 18 years of age.
Stripping Cooper Appointment Powers: The Senate approved a bill along party lines this past week to strip Cooper of his appointment powers within the state’s community college system. Senate Bill 692 would transition appointments for State Board of Community Colleges fully to the Republican-controlled legislature by July 1, 2027.
DIDN’T SURVIVE
Happy Hour: House Bill 94 never had a committee vote. It sought to legalize happy hour promotions on alcoholic beverages.
Concealed Carry Permit: House Bill 189 was pulled from the House floor this week. It would’ve eliminated a law that requires gun owners to get concealed handgun permits from their local sheriff. The measure was opposed by the NC Sheriffs’ Association, which had concerns about community safety without the added layer of law enforcement review
Drag Performance Ban: House Bill 673 never got a hearing. It sought to outlaw drag performances on public property or in the presence of those under the age of 18. First-time violators of the law would’ve faced a Class A1 misdemeanor charge, which is the most serious misdemeanor offense and is punishable by up to 150 days in jail. Repeat violators would’ve been subject to a Class I felony conviction.
Civil Rights Education: House Bill 686 never got a hearing. It would’ve established a standard civil rights movement course of study from elementary school through high school
Various Election Changes: A number of bills to change election laws (HB 706, HB 728, HB 770, HB 772) never got hearings. The measures called for better defined buffer zones at polling sites, more frequent cleaning of voter rolls, increased public records access to voting information and freer movement at voting sites for partisan poll observers.
Improving Student Mental Health: Cotham, the former Mecklenburg County Democrat who is now a Republican, led an effort to prioritize student wellness. To the extent funds are made available, House Bill 763 would have directed public school units to have a ratio of one counselor for every 300 students. The bill never got a hearing.
Limiting Mail-In Voting: Senate Bill 88 never got a hearing. It sought to reduce the time in which absentee ballots could be collected. Regardless, the provisions may very well wind up in a final state budget or a different standalone bill.
OTHER
School Choice: House Bill 823/Senate Bill 406 didn’t clear a chamber floor vote, but is not dead. It presently sits in each chamber’s appropriations committees and is expected to move this session. The measure would give all North Carolina public school students, regardless of income, a private schooling option.
📖5 essential reads
GOP frontrunner for NC governor mocked school shooting survivors and once justified shooting protesters (Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck /// CNN)
The Youngest State Party Leader in the U.S. Has a Blue-Collar Blueprint (Andrew Trunsky // New York Times)
Questions swirl about NC legislation to restrict abortion after first trimester of pregnancy (Anne Blythe // NC Heath News)
NC GOP bill limiting care for trans kids moves ahead without time for public comment (Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi // Raleigh News & Observer)
Legislative leaders appeal latest Leandro ruling to second-highest NC court (Carolina Journal)
Stay tuned!
I shall return to your inbox later this week with more North Carolina political news. If you find these newsletters helpful, please make sure to tell your friends, consider sharing a gift subscription or upgrading to a paid membership for all mid-week updates.