North Carolina House fails to override veto of pro-life bill

Pro-life lawmakers in the North Carolina House of Representatives failed to muster enough votes to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor’s Protection Act on Wednesday. The measure would have created civil and criminal penalties for abortionists who fail to offer the same care to babies born alive after botched abortions as they would to other patients. Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the bill on April 18, calling it “an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients.”

North Carolina only requires a three-fifths majority in both houses of the General Assembly to override a governor’s veto, and the bill was able to garner enough Senate votes on May 1 to survive. The House voted 67-53 Wednesday in favor of an override, but 72 votes were needed to keep the bill alive.

The Wisconsin legislature passed a similar bill Wednesday, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is expected to veto it as well.