It’s four parts abortion restrictions and regulations, one part motorcycle safety provisions and one part miscellaneous.
The abortion bill that passed the state House of Representatives by a 74-41 vote Thursday — legislation that gave rise to the Twitter hashtag #MotorcycleVagina among its opponents — was a little different than the one passed by the Senate on July 2 and sent to the House.
Gov. Pat McCrory came out against the earlier abortion bill, considering it too restrictive. That one, H.B. 695, was originally a bill banning the implementation of Shariah law, and foreign laws in general, within the state, before senators attached abortion restrictions and clinic regulations to the bill.
House Republicans, seeking compromise language and a bill already passed by the Senate to attach it to, created the hybrid abortion/motorcycle safety bill in House Judiciary Committee B on Wednesday and moved it to the House floor — S.B. 353.
The move caught some veteran observers of the legislature who were not privy to behind-the-scenes talks — and House Democrats — off guard.
“No one knew that was coming, or had any involvement in it — I guess it was a surprise when it was actually placed on the table,” said Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir.
Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg, talked to reporters Wednesday about the speed behind the bill.
“We’re nearing the end of session,” said Samuelson, quoted by the News & Observer. “Things move quickly. We wanted to make sure we got this done and didn’t leave it hanging.”
While co-opting the motorcycle safety bill may seem incongruous in a vacuum, Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, said such maneuvers were common when Democrats controlled the legislature to get a bill passed after the crossover deadline. He said between discussions in committee, public input, talks with McCrory and state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Aldona Wos, legislators crafted the amended legislation.
Following the negotiations, the bill’s expected to be passed by the Senate and signed by McCrory, but Bell, who voted for the measure, isn’t counting his chickens quite yet.
“I’ve learned in the short six months I’ve been in Raleigh that you don’t expect anything,” Bell said. “But, I feel like we put a good bill forward today, I hope the Senate will support it and I hope the governor will support it.”
Like H.B. 695, the current legislation bans sex-selective abortions; blocks insurance coverage of abortions under most instances through the Affordable Care Act, state, city and county health plans; and provides legal protections for health care workers who object on moral or religious grounds from participating in abortions.
One thing the new bill doesn’t do is impose the sort of ambulatory surgery center standards as the first one, which could have meant the closure of 16 of North Carolina’s 17 licensed abortion clinics. The change is one of those meant to be more amenable to McCrory.
“With this bill, it lets Health and Human Services take the direction on that and move forward, which is what they’re supposed to do,” Bell said.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.