Traitor to allow Republicans to pass abortion ban
By 
Tricia “Pierre Laval” Cotham is flatly ignoring the will of her constituents for horrible reasons:
North Carolina State Rep. Tricia Cotham (D), an EMILY’s List-endorsed lawmaker from a heavily blue district in the Charlotte area, is reportedly planning to switch her party affiliation to Republican, thereby handing the state’s Grand Old Party a veto-proof majority capable of banning abortion, among other horrific priorities. And banning abortion is very much on the agenda in the purple state.
On Wednesday, state House Majority Deputy Whip Keith Kidwell (R) introduced a total abortion ban with only a minor exception. Kidwell’s bill, which he called “Human Life Protection Act of 2023,” seeks to make performing an abortion a felony and add civil penalties, including a $100,000 fine and loss of one’s professional license.
Cotham becoming a Republican gives state Republicans the ability to override any veto from Gov. Roy Cooper (D). The news of Cotham’s impending switch was first reported by Axios and is expected to be announced on Wednesday.
The South is quickly becoming an abortion desert, as state after state decimates access to the procedure. The map is looking extremely bleak: Abortion is either outright banned or severely curtailed, often at just six weeks gestation (before many people even realize they’re pregnant), in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The only relatively bright spots are South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina and Puerto Rico, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that Florida is doing its absolute best to pass a six-week abortion ban, as well.
Voters can punish Cotham by voting her out of office if she can even survive a Republican primary. But because of North Carolina’s extreme gerrymander, repealing abortion legislation once it’s passed is essentially impossible, so the betrayed voters have essentially no remedy.
This is another illustration of why Rucho was a critical predicate for Dobbs, and why claims that Dobbs will be better for American democracy are not remotely tenable.