The bill – which would require stricter standards, more contact between abortion clinic doctors and their clients, and limit insurance coverage for the procedure – passed along party lines by a vote of 74 to 41. Rep. Charles Jeter of Huntersville was the only Republican to vote against the measure. Jeter had said earlier he was elected to work on jobs, not social issues.
House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican from Mecklenburg County who is a candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, wasn’t required to vote, but did, siding with the majority.
The legislation – Senate Bill 353, innocuously titled Health and Safety Law Changes – now goes to the Senate, which passed a similar version last week.
