North Carolina Will Vote Today to Override Gov. Cooper’s Veto of Bill to Stop Infanticide
ACTION ALERT: Please contact members of the North Carolina legislature and tell them to override Governor Cooper's veto of the bill to stop infanticide. THE VOTE IS TODAY!
LIFENEWS -- North Carolina lawmakers plan to vote to override their governor’s veto of a bill to protect unborn babies from infanticide.
WRAL News reports House Speaker Tim Moore said Wednesday that the vote is scheduled for June 5. The state Senate already voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in April.
The state legislature passed the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act earlier in April. State Senate Bill 359 would require abortion workers to provide the same level of medical care to an infant born alive from a botched abortion that they would any other infant born at the same gestational age. It also would require the infant to be transferred to a hospital for further care. Health workers also would be require to report these instances to authorities. Abortion workers who violate the measure could face felony charges.
However, Cooper vetoed the bill several days later, claiming it is “unnecessary.”
The House needs a three-fifths majority vote to override the veto and pass the law, meaning several Democrats will have to vote with Republicans for the bill to succeed, according to the report.
It is not clear if there are enough votes, however. House lawmakers approved the bill 65-46.
During the House debate, state Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Emerald Isle, gave a powerful testimony about working as a phlebotomist and seeing newborns who survived abortions being abandoned to die in the hospital where she worked, according to North Carolina Health News.