For Immediate Release: May 13, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
Roy Cooper Rejects Public Opinion to Stand with Abortion Industry
RALEIGH, N.C. – Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed the Care for Women, Children and Families Act in an attempt to allow late-term abortions and abortion tourism to continue in the state of North Carolina. The General Assembly is expected to hold votes to override the Governor’s veto of the 12-week protection supported by 62% of North Carolinians in the coming days.
In his extreme move to sanction abortions of babies at the point they feel pain, the Governor vetoed $160 million to support children, families and maternal health:
- $75 million to expand access to childcare.
- Nearly $59 million (not including federal matching funds) for foster care, kinship care and children’s homes.
- $20 million for maternity and paternity leave for teachers and state employees.
- Over $16 million (including federal matching funds) to reduce infant and maternal mortality.
- $3 million to help mothers and fathers complete community college.
Through his veto of SB 20, Gov. Cooper also rejected protecting children from discrimination abortions based on sex, race or Down Syndrome; defending abortion survivors born alive after failed abortions; and requiring abortion centers to follow health and safety standards required for other ambulatory surgical centers.
Caitlin Connors, southern regional director for SBA Pro-Life America, shared her reaction:
“Today, Gov. Cooper sided with the abortion industry over the people. During his tour targeting legislators to uphold his veto, the Governor made it abundantly clear who he was representing by holding a panel with the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood and the owner of another abortion facility. It’s alarming that on Mother’s Day weekend the leader of the purple state of North Carolina is using his political power to serve the financial interests of abortion executives, rather than to represent the consensus on late term abortions, establish paid parental leave for teachers and establish a game-changing amount of funding for childcare.
“We thank legislators for standing with 62% of North Carolinians against Gov. Cooper’s Planned Parenthood-driven agenda to deny the protection of life for babies at the point when they resemble mom or dad, their heart has beat more than 10 million times and they respond to touch.”
SB 20 allows for exceptions including rape, incest, and life and health of the mother. Based on the most recent CDC data, protecting unborn children at 12 weeks would impact over 3,000 lives within the state each year, not including reducing abortion tourism from other states.
By 12 weeks’ gestation, all major organs have formed and the heart has beat over 10 million times. At this stage, babies suck their thumbs and already have a right-hand or left-hand preference. Prominent facial features including the nose, cheeks, eyes and ears are recognizable; teeth are developing; and the body responds to touch. For more information on fetal development, see Charlotte Lozier Institute’s “12 Facts at 12 Weeks.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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