On Tuesday, the North Carolina House voted 72-48 to override Governor Beverly Perdue's (D-NC) veto of an abortion bill (HB 845) that would require women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours after mandatory counseling and obtain an ultrasound. It is estimated that if passed, the new requirements would lead to around 2,900 additional births annually and would cost taxpayers $6.7 million in the first year and $35 million over 5 years.
Governor Perdue stated, "the bill contains provisions that are the most extreme in the nation in terms of interfering with that relationship [between patients and their doctors]. Physicians must be free to advise and treat their patients based on their medical knowledge and expertise and not have their advice overridden by elected officials seeking to impost their own ideological agenda on others."
The bill will now go to the Republican-controlled state Senate. The Senate which initially passed the bill 29-20 will need three-fifths majority in order to override the veto and pass the bill into law without Perdue's signature.
Media Resources: National Partnership for Women & Families 7/27/11, 6/28/11; News & Observer 6/28/11
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