North Carolina’s abortion rights showdown

North Carolina's governor vetoes a 12-week abortion ban; Thai voters reject military rule.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

• On Saturday, North Carolina's Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would have banned most abortions in the state after 12 weeks, setting up a clash with the Republican-led legislature. [Associated Press / Hannah Schoenbaum and Gary D. Robertson]
• If the party stays unified, Republicans could use their slim, veto-proof supermajority to pass the bill, which includes exceptions for rape, incest, or life-threatening abnormalities. [Politico / Megan Messerly]
• Cooper is publicly urging Republican lawmakers who previously backed abortion rights to block an override. [New York Times / Kate Kelly]
• Abortion rights advocates warn that North Carolina’s ban could harm reproductive health care overall, and lead to reduced telehealth availability and longer wait times. [CNN /Sydney Kashiwagi]
• The bill would also affect people across the South who live in states that restricted abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, and who relied on North Carolina for access to abortion care. [Mother Jones / Abigail Weinberg]

Thailand votes for change

• Thai voters overwhelmingly backed two opposition parties in legislative elections, rejecting the military-backed government that’s ruled since a 2014 coup. [Vox / Li Zhou]
• The progressive Move Forward Party, which called for economic, monarchal, and military reforms, won 151 of 500 House seats, while Pheu Thai won 141. [NYT / Sui-Lee Wee and Muktita Suhartono]
• Current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s military-aligned government won just 15 percent of the seats. [BBC / Jonathan Head]
• Move Forward and Pheu Thai agreed to form a coalition government, but they don’t have enough votes to elect Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat prime minister. [Reuters / Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um]
• Who will be prime minister may be decided by Thailand’s Senate, whose 250 members are appointed by the military, as a majority of both chambers is needed to choose the next leader in July. [NPR/ Michael Sullivan]

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Turkey’s elections are headed for a May 28 runoff after preliminary results showed that both longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu failed to win more than 50 percent of the vote. [Vox / Jen Kirby]

• Professor Joseph Dituri broke the record for the longest time spent living underwater without depressurization on his 74th day at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Florida. [BBC / Madeline Halpert]
• A former investment fund manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accused the organization of hiding billions in assets and violating its tax-exempt status. [CBS News / Sharyn Alfonsi]
• On Monday, Virginia police arrested one person after a baseball bat attack on two staffers at Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly’s district office. [NBC News / Rebecca Shabad, Ryan Nobles, and Ben Collins]

“There are four legislators who made these promises, but I think there may be more who know in their hearts and minds that this is bad.”

[Gov. Cooper on North Carolina’s abortion ban / Politico]

The Palestinian catastrophe, explained. [YouTube]

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