NEWS
Governor Cooper’s Visit to Davidson
The Governor’s roundtable conversation.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s Roundtable Meeting at Davidson Town Hall
On Tuesday, Governor Roy Cooper held a roundtable discussion about women’s reproductive health and the new abortion ban recently passed by the North Carolina General Assembly.
Mayor Knox greeted the Governor and welcomed him to the new Town Hall and Community Center.
The focus of the conversation was centered around the effect the bill would have on the ability of women in the state to manage their own healthcare in the assumed privacy of their doctor-patient relationships.
The new Davidson Town Hall and Community Center was the site of the discussion, which was open to media and elected officials. While Mayor Knox and several Town Commissioners were on hand to greet the Governor and welcome him to Davidson, they played no role in the event.
In addition to local print, television, and radio representatives, several from the national media were there, as well. The presence of the New York Times could be seen as an indication of the interest this vote has captured in the national conversation.
Several physicians and patient advocates joined Governor Cooper for the discussion. They shared deeply personal stories about how the recently approved 12-week abortion ban would be harmful to North Carolinians. The physicians held that several additional provisions included in the legislation would make abortion unavailable for many women who live in rural areas, who are working to make ends meet, or who do not have access to affordable health care. They specifically stated their beliefs that the requirement for additional appointments with healthcare providers is out of reach for residents of 90% of North Carolina counties, counties that do not have maternal health care providers.
The Governor and participants in the roundtable held a availability at the conclusion of the event.
Participants invited by the governor to join in the roundtable discussion included: Dr. John R. Allbert, maternal and fetal medicine; Dr. Katherine Farris, Chief Medical Officer for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic; Tina Marshall, Founder of Black Abortion Defense League; Shannon Bauerle, Executive Director of Project Enough; and Calla Hales, Executive Director of Preferred Women’s Health Center.
At the outset, the governor stated that he will veto the legislation this weekend. He also said that he hoped that open and public conversations about the effects of the bill would cause just one legislator to change his or her mind, noting that the ability to override his veto is currently a one-vote partisan margin.