Speaker sets date for House override vote on abortion bill veto

Moore, R-Cleveland, said the override vote on Senate Bill 359, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, would be held on June 5.

"This needless legislation would criminalize doctors and other health care providers for a practice that simply does not exist," he said.

Because a three-fifths majority of members present and voting is required for a successful override vote, House Republicans need to persuade up to seven Democrats to vote with them – only four voted for the bill initially – or hope as many as 12 of them are absent for the vote to meet that threshold.

House leadership has been playing a numbers game with the override vote in recent weeks, putting the measure on the floor calendar and then pulling it off once they determine they don't have enough support to meet the three-fifths requirement.

The on-again, off-again schedule occurred on May 2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 16, 20 and 22 before Wednesday, when it was pulled for a ninth time.

Moore could have kept the issue in doubt for months through such tactics, colloquially known as leaving bills in "the veto garage," but he said Wednesday that bill sponsors, who've been trying to sway more Democrats to join their side, have won over all the votes they're going to.

"At some point, people are just going to have to take a stand on it," he said.

"This gives both sides plenty of notice to plan to be here," he added. "We know of no personal issues anyone has that would prevent them from being here, so we'll put it on the calendar and see what happens."