For Republicans, NC’s 12-week abortion ban might just be the first step

North Carolina Republicans just passed a 12-week abortion ban, but their recent comments suggest this might just be a first step in a long-term plan. Because although they are calling the legislation a “compromise,” what that means is that it’s a compromise among themselves. GOP leaders said when introducing the bill that — after months of internal deliberations — they’d landed on a 12-week ban because that was what would get enough votes to successfully override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. In order to become law, every single Republican in the legislature needed to be on board. But what could hap...