Gov. Cooper meets with Biden, Democratic governors to discuss abortion rights

Gov. Roy Cooper, alongside fellow Democratic governors, spoke with President Joe Biden on Friday about protecting abortion rights.

“That constitutional right that women have relied on for five decades has been ripped away,” said Cooper, who currently serves as chairperson of the Democratic Governors Association.

Eight other Democratic governors joined Cooper on the call. They expressed frustration with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, explained what they are doing to protect abortion in their states and asked Biden to defend abortion rights on a national level.

Abortion is still legal in North Carolina, as top Republicans said they had no interest in pursuing a ban during the short session — doubting they had the votes to overturn a likely veto from Cooper.

Cooper emphasized during the call that, with a Republican-controlled legislature, his ability to expand access was limited. But his veto power might permit him to prevent sweeping restrictions.

“This Democratic governor is going to hold the line to protect womens’ reproductive freedom in our state,” he said.

But Cooper’s veto power could be rendered useless if Republicans win a supermajority in the upcoming midterm elections, giving them the power to overturn his vetoes.

State Republicans are currently three seats shy of a supermajority in the House, and two seats shy in the Senate.

Cooper also mentioned that, as one of few states in the Southeast to still have legal abortions, North Carolina has seen an influx of patients since the Supreme Court’s decision. Planned Parenthood clinics in the state have scheduled 192 abortion appointments for out-of-state patients in the next week alone, the governor said.

“That means about 10,000 extra patients from out of state coming to North Carolina in the next year — mostly from states that have bans and tighter restrictions,” Cooper said. “...Your zip code should not determine your rights.”

Biden reiterated that the federal government will protect the rights of women to travel to states where abortion is legal if it has been outlawed where they live.

In Missouri, state legislators introduced a bill seeking to enforce abortion restrictions even if the procedure is performed out of state.

Republican lawmakers don’t plan to introduce an abortion ban anytime soon, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger have said. But both have urged Attorney General Josh Stein to reinstate a 20-week ban on abortion that was struck down by a federal judge in 2019.

“As leaders of the General Assembly, we take seriously this charge from our nation’s highest court and will in the months ahead consider this consequential issue with the gravity it demands,” Berger and Moore wrote. “What we must do now, however, is respect the Supreme Court’s decision and consider its immediate impact on North Carolina’s abortion regulations.”

Stein’s office told Republican leaders they could expect a response to their letter this week.

Cooper did not mention the 20-week ban during his call with the president on Friday.

Present with Cooper during the virtual call were Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York, Jared Polis of Colorado, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Kate Brown of Oregon, Jay Inslee of Washington, Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Daniel McKee of Rhode Island.