RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Gov. Roy Cooper (D) will veto the bill Republicans in the General Assembly passed this week to restrict abortion in North Carolina.

But, before he takes that step, he’s putting pressure on a few Republicans to sustain his veto based on comments they made during last year’s campaign.

“I’ll veto this awful bill, but I need your help,” said Cooper in a video he posted on social media. “Demand that they keep their promises by sustaining the veto.”

The bill Republicans approved would limit abortion after 12 weeks while allowing exceptions after that for rape, incest, protecting the mother’s life and fetal abnormalities.

It also includes new regulations in the first trimester, including requiring additional in-person visits. Abortion clinics would have new licensing requirements that could lead to them needing to reach the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, which Planned Parenthood South Atlantic said none of their facilities currently do.

“I believe that this is the best thing for our state and our country. North Carolina has the opportunity to be a leader in this country,” Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance) told state lawmakers Thursday.

Republicans have a veto-proof supermajority in the legislature, but Cooper is calling on at least one Republican to vote to sustain his veto, which would be enough.

He specifically mentioned: Rep. Tricia Cotham (Mecklenburg), Rep. John Bradford (Mecklenburg), Rep. Ted Davis (New Hanover) and Sen. Michael Lee (New Hanover).

What they said and how they voted

Rep. Cotham recently made national headlines for switching to the Republican Party after campaigning and being elected as Democrat. She previously served in the legislature and has been a supporter of abortion rights for many years.

After the U.S. Supreme Court decision leaked last May, she tweeted, “Now, more than ever we need leaders who will be unwavering and unapologetic in their support of abortion rights. I’ll fight to codify Row in the #ncga and continue my strong record of defending the right to choose.”

She also co-sponsored a bill earlier this year along with all of the Democrats to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law.

She did not respond to a request for comment about her vote in favor of the bill this week.

Republican Rep. John Bradford also voted in favor of the bill. He represents a key swing district in Mecklenburg County, which he won last year 51-49 percent.

During last year’s campaign, he told Axios Charlotte he would support leaving the current law in place that restricts abortion after 20 weeks.

“I have no intentions myself of going back to Raleigh and trying to make the 20 weeks more restrictive,” he told Axios Charlotte.

Bradford did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Ted Davis, of New Hanover County, was the only Republican absent for the House vote Wednesday night.

Leaders in the House and Senate told CBS 17 that every Republican has committed to voting for the bill.

During a town hall last October hosted by WHQR, WECT and Port City Daily, Rep. Davis was asked about potential abortion restrictions.

“I support what the law is right now in North Carolina. And that is that a woman can have access to an abortion up to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Then after that, in order to have an abortion, I believe in reasonable restrictions: incest, rape, viability of the fetus, or the health of the mother. I’ve had issues with a speaker before where he is wanting me to vote a certain way. And I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to do it. I don’t think that’s what’s best for the people I represent. And if you want to take issue with it, that’s fine, but I’m not going to vote the way you want me to,’ and I haven’t,” Rep. Davis said, according to WHQR.

When CBS 17 contacted him Friday, he declined to comment on the matter.

The fourth lawmaker Cooper mentioned was Republican Sen. Michael Lee, who also represents New Hanover County and won a close race last year.

Abortion was a key issue in that race, as Gov. Cooper appeared in television ads with Lee’s Democratic opponent.

Lee wrote an op-ed about his position in the Wilmington Star-News last September where he said he is “against bans in the first trimester.”

He also said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and protecting the mother’s life, which the bill he voted on Thursday includes.

Cooper criticized the new regulations in the bill as being so onerous that they would effectively reduce access to abortion in the first trimester as well. There’s also a disagreement about whether the bill should have included the 13th week of pregnancy as being part of the first trimester.

In an email, Lee pushed back on Cooper, “Roy Cooper deliberately lied about my position on abortion during the 2022 campaign and he’s lying now. I have been more than open about how I would vote: protecting life in the 2nd and 3rd trimester and safeguarding exceptions for rape, incest, the health of the mother, and fetal anomalies. I voted exactly how I said I would.”

He also cited his op-ed and a TV ad featuring his wife Heidi, in which she said Lee would support exceptions and that “late-term abortion is wrong.”