![Rep. Tricia Ann Cotham is photographed Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/XOOIHOEIYQC2FHMH2PIKMVKYHU.jpg?auth=cecc544d1c0bbe0304f47f7ca7d418a682110cfe74bdc43d38c55b29d1f7183d&width=414&height=233&smart=true)
How one North Carolina lawmaker’s defection from the Democratic Party upended abortion protections
The switch by Rep. Tricia Cotham gave Republicans veto-proof margins in both the House and Senate, upending the state’s fragile power balance and perhaps opening the floodgates to a new wave of conservative policies