The Senate voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of an abortion bill Tuesday evening.
The Republican-controlled chamber managed the three-fifths threshold required by a single vote – with the help of one Democrat.
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Sen. Don Davis, D-Pitt, one of just two Senate Democrats to vote for the bill the first time out, stuck to his vote Tuesday and went against the governor. He left the chamber after adjournment without comment.
Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, also voted for the bill when it was before the chamber earlier this year, but he backed the governor and voted against the override.
The bill now heads back to the House on Thursday, and Republicans face tougher math there if they're to fully overturn Cooper's veto and make the bill law.
Senate Bill 359 would make it a felony for doctors to fail to perform life-saving measures on a baby born alive after a botched abortion, and it creates a new duty for nurses and other staff to report these doctors. Bills like this cropped up in a number of states this year after a similar measure failed to pass the U.S. Senate.
Republican lawmakers, backed by the legislature's nonpartisan staff, say there's a loophole in existing state law, and doctor's don't currently have to help a child born alive after a botched abortion.
Democrats disagree, and the brief debate on the override Tuesday focused on these contentions.
Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, rose to question his colleague, Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham. Both men are attorneys, and Chaudhuri asked McKissick about the punishments already in law, focusing on the state's existing murder statute and laws meant to cover deaths caused by attacks when a child is still in the womb.
Because this bill would create a new crime, with lesser punishment, Chaudhuri suggested Republicans sought "a new reduced sentence for the crime of infanticide."
"That would be correct," McKissick replied.
Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, the bill sponsor, said Democrats were twisting the law. The General Assembly's nonpartisan staff has said in writing that "there are currently no laws requiring an affirmative duty of care to preserve the life of infants who survive attempted abortions."
Krawiec asked McKissick why, if the law already protects these infants, he would be against the bill
"Why the big deal?" she said. "If we already have laws to cover it that are harsher, then you should be delighted."
McKissick said the bill is an effort to second guess doctors when they have to make a "split-second decision." He noted that Republicans have not pointed to a case in North Carolina where a doctor has allowed a child born alive after an abortion attempt to die.
"We don't need to create this law because it feeds a false narrative," he said.
It takes three-fifths support in both the House and the Senate to override a veto, but it's three-fifths of all members present and voting, so the exact number depends on how many of the chamber's members participate.
The House passed the bill 65-46.
Four Democrats voted in favor, five Democrats were absent and four Republicans were either absent or didn't vote on the bill. If all 120 members are present in the House for an override vote, Republicans would have to get their full caucus to vote, keep the four Democrats that supported it the first time and pull another three Democrats to their side to hit the magic number of 72.