On last night's show, Chris Fitzsimon from NC Policy Watch told TRMS guest host extraordinaire Melissa Harris-Perry that the only thing standing in the way of extreme abortion restrictions busting free of Democratic Governor Bev Perdue's veto stamp in North Carolina was a single Republican state senator.
This senator had voted against the measure the first time around. Then Governor Perdue vetoed the bill, the House overrode the veto and the Senate was about to hold its own override vote. The Republican in question hadn't announced, as of last night, whether he'd vote against the restrictions again -- in other words vote to uphold the veto -- or whether he'd sit out the vote entirely. Sitting out the vote would mean the veto would be overridden and the new abortion restrictions (24-hour waiting period, state-mandated scripted counseling, sonograms, etc.) would stand.
And today, that's what happened in the North Carolina Senate. From the Raleigh News & Observer:
The state Senate voted 29-19 to cancel Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of a bill that seeks to limit abortions. ... Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican who voted against the bill in June, left the building before the override vote.