WASHINGTON (AP) — North Carolina's governor, Roy Cooper, is an abortion rights supporter and this year's chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.
He says North Carolina women can still obtain reproductive health care in the state despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday that put sharp limits on abortion.
The North Carolina legislature is controlled by Republicans, but they lack veto-proof majorities should they attempt to pass additional abortion restrictions now.
Cooper has put out a fundraising appeal citing the decision in urging assistance to prevent the GOP from obtaining veto-proof majorities in November.
All 170 legislative seats are on the fall ballot.
Some states have so-called "trigger" laws regarding abortion, but neither North Carolina nor South Carolina has them.
On Friday, Cooper issued a statement saying that he would "fight to keep politicians out of the doctor's exam room."
"For 50 years, women have relied on their constitutional right to make their own medical decisions, but today that right has been tragically ripped away," he said. "That means it's now up to the states to determine whether women get reproductive health care, and in North Carolina, they still can."
Gov. Cooper’s statement on Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade: pic.twitter.com/fb0hLIEMHo
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) June 24, 2022