On May 16, North Carolina Republicans successfully enacted a new abortion ban, overriding Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. The ban—which will go into effect on July 1—will significantly restrict access to abortions in the South, prohibiting women from obtaining abortions after 12 weeks of gestation and requiring a 72-hour waiting period before any procedure.
Those who are indignant at the override can largely thank Charlotte representative Tricia Cotham.
Cotham officially became a member of the Grand Old Party (GOP) on April 5, just over three months after being elected as a progressive Democrat. Besides eliciting shock, anger and protests from her constituents, Cotham’s defection made national news due to its statewide implications.
This party switch has given Republicans the supermajority they have been waiting for, now that they have 72 members in the House and 30 in the Senate. The supermajority gives the GOP an ill-gotten advantage over Democrats in North Carolina and effectively disregards the roughly 1.9 million citizens who did not vote Republican in the 2022 elections.
Cotham’s defection has effectively enabled the GOP to override Governor Roy Cooper’s vetoes, making it easier to pass unrepresentative and reactionary legislation. All of this became possible without taking the will of the 15,389 voters who cast their ballots for Cotham into account.
The GOP of North Carolina has focused on many controversial issues, most notably the rights of transgender people, specifically trans youth. These rights, and human rights in general, should never be contested in the first place, especially by our legislative bodies who are supposed to protect human rights and represent the will of their constituents.
Cooper had previously been able to block bills containing restrictions on trans rights, but with the super majority, this vulnerable population could be in serious danger with the new bills being introduced.
The GOP has now moved to pass a ban on trans athletes in middle and high schools (House Bill 574) across the state. Known as the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” House Bill 574 passed the House on April 20, with Cotham voting in support—an action that contradicts all of her previous standings on LGBTQ+ issues.
After all, just months ago, Cotham campaigned on the promise that she has “been a champion of LGBTQ+ rights throughout my public service,” according to her campaign website. Passing House Bill 574 is a great disservice to her constituents, who believed her previous statements and voted for her to protect the very people she is helping to oppress.
Nothing about Cotham’s recent actions have been in line with what she promised constituents or what she has done in the past. While Cotham has not commented on her vote of support, many members of the GOP are speaking out against the backlash from the public that the bill has received thus far.
One such individual is Republican senator Vickie Sawyer, who stated, “This isn’t anti-anything. This is pro-woman.” If this statement were true, then red states that have passed similar legislation—such as Florida—wouldn’t have higher trans suicide rates, homeless LGBTQ+ populations and higher incidents of hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.
House Bill 584 is a form of discrimination on the basis of gender and has serious consequences for trans teens and their mental health. The bill itself is a lot of things, but it is far from “pro-woman,” as Sawyer stated. “Pro-woman” legislation, after all, works towards gender equality, not against it.
Whether or not Cotham’s party switch was strategic in helping Republicans gain a stranglehold on state politics, she has enabled many conservative and partisan bills to be passed. One vote has effectively canceled out the voices of nearly five million North Carolinian voters. The choice was not Cotham’s to make: stepping down is the only right thing she could possibly do, even with leaving such a disaster in her wake.
