(RALEIGH) --  Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue has blocked Republican legislation that would require a woman to get more information about a developing fetus before getting an abortion.

Perdue vetoed the bill, which would impose a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can get an abortion. Doctors would also have to provide patients with state-approved information on medical risks associated with abortions and alternatives such as adoption or keeping the child.
 
In addition, the measure would require physicians to perform an ultrasound no more than four hours prior to the abortion procedure. The woman would not have to view images or listen to the sounds captured during the ultra sound.
 
“This bill is a dangerous intrusion into the confidential relationship that exists between women and their doctors,” Perdue said in a statement. “The bill contains provisions that are the most extreme in the nation in terms of interfering with that relationship. Physicians must be free to advise and treat their patients based on their medical knowledge and expertise and not have their advice overridden by elected officials seeking to impose their own ideological agenda on others.”
 
Democrats praised Perdue’s veto of the bill, which they argued would impose an ideological agenda on an individual’s medical decisions. “This bill opens the door to politicians placing more and more restrictions on what a woman and her doctor can decide is best for her health, even in life-threatening situations,” Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, said in a prepared statement. “I applaud Governor Perdue’s veto because women and doctors are certainly capable of making difficult medical decisions themselves, without politicians looking over their shoulders.”
 
Perdue’s decision drew quick reaction from Republicans, who criticized the move as an attempt to boost her support from Democrats. 
 
“The bill really is all about requiring that certain information be provided and requiring that before an abortion goes forward in North Carolina that we truly have informed consent,” said Senate president Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. “I think the bill was well-reasoned and I am disappointed that the governor has vetoed the bill.”
 
Bill sponsor Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg said Republicans had removed the more controversial provisions included in early versions. She rejected the idea that the bill infringed on the doctor-patient relationship.
 
“We are now in a minority of states that require no special informed consent for abortion and frankly that is shameful, especially with a female governor,” said Samuelson. “Having come this far in leadership, Gov. Perdue should have even greater respect for the ability of women to make careful choices when given adequate information. Yet, she made no attempt to work with us in this effort to make abortion safer and rarer - a goal even many abortion advocates support.”
 
The measure was just one vote shy of a veto-proof margin in both the House and Senate. Samuelson, the House Majority Whip,  said Republicans are already trying to convince some Democrats to support a vote to override Perdue’s veto.
 
“We do know that there were a number of Democrats who voiced to us privately that they wanted to support it, but had received a lot of pressure,” Samuelson added. “We’re hoping that we will be able to help them – to convince them to do otherwise next time.”
 
State lawmakers will return to Raleigh on July 13 for a special session to deal with redistricting. However, any potential vote to trump Perdue’s veto could come at that time.