Clergy: North Carolina’s proposed abortion restrictions are another effort to harm the state’s poor

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Clergy and other opponents of a bill further restricting abortion in North Carolina that’s about to be vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday the measure is another effort by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to harm the state’s low-income residents.

Civil rights leader the Rev. William Barber of Goldsboro and other ministers gathered inside the Legislative Building to speak against the legislation, which would ban nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. State law currently bans abortions after 20 weeks.

“This bill will hurt the most vulnerable, especially the poor among us,” Barber said. “It is wrong. It is wrong over and over and over again.”

Cooper has said he plans to veto the bill on Saturday, when he’ll attend a rally organized by abortion-rights advocates in downtown Raleigh. The state legislature could begin override votes next week. Republicans hold narrow veto-proof seat majorities in the House and Senate. Cooper has held public events this week in hopes of persuading Republican legislators to uphold his anticipated veto.

Critics of the measure say additional rules governing legal abortions will make it harder for women who live in rural areas or work long hours to access abortion services. But bill supporters say the measure will protect life and provide at least $160 million toward services that help mothers, children and families.

Barber, president of the group Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the national Poor People’s Campaign, said that if GOP legislators were concerned about life they would pass laws tightening gun regulations and raising the minimum wage, among others. Event participants also read from an open letter to legislative leaders that in part highlights other GOP bills they oppose.

Religious leaders participating in the event met later Friday with Cooper, the governor’s office said.