North Carolina lawmakers override governor's veto of 12-week abortion ban

North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to enshrine into law a ban on most abortions in the state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Both chambers of the legislature have Republican supermajorities, though the governor had hoped at least one Republican lawmaker would vote to uphold his veto and traveled the state last week to convince a lawmaker to take that stance, the Associated Press reported.

The Old North State previously barred abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The new ban makes exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies and severe fetal anomalies. Cooper had called the measure "extreme" before he vetoed it, despite its relatively permissive regulations in comparison with other abortion bans in southern states.

In Florida, the state recently barred the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy while numerous others have almost completely eliminated it outright.

The North Carolina ban marks the latest in a series of Republican-led efforts nationwide to restrict access to abortion after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to the procedure.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.