WASHINGTON. Republicans on Monday blocked the Senate from passing a sweeping abortion rights bill as Democrats tried to put lawmakers on the protocol on the issue ahead of the midterm elections and the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on access to abortion.
Democrats fell 14 of the 60 votes needed to pass the Women’s Health Act after the House of Representatives passed it in a narrow partisan vote last September. One Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, joined all Republicans in opposing the start of a debate on the measure.
Lawmakers said the Senate voted for the first time in a separate bill to enact constitutional protection for Roe v. Wade. The result was expected, but Democrats were determined to get the ballot going as members of both parties draw the front line over what is expected to be a major election year issue. Later this year, the Conservative-dominated Supreme Court will rule in a case that could undermine or overturn the historic decision on abortion.
“We want Americans to know their legislators’ position on this important issue,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a third Democrat and a leading supporter of the abortion rights bill.
The measure would enshrine in federal law abortion rights, long protected by a 1973 court decision. It has been pursued by Democrats and abortion rights groups as a way of countering increasingly tight statewide abortion restrictions, as well as the prospect of a Supreme Court decision upholding new tough abortion restrictions in Mississippi and upholding a Texas law that has severely limited abortions in this condition.
“People are counting on the Senate to do things that the Supreme Court won’t,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
About two dozen states have drafted legislation that would immediately curb abortion rights if a court upholds a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, about two months sooner than Rowe and subsequent rulings allow.
During a Supreme Court debate in December, conservative judges expressed their willingness to cut, if not eliminate, federal protection against abortion and leave much of the regulation up to individual states. Democrats say the measure is necessary to ensure women across the country have equal access to abortion and to prevent states from imposing restrictions that are not medically necessary as a way to unconstitutionally restrict abortion.
Senator Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat and Majority Leader, decided to vote for the Democratic bill over Republican opposition in the Senate, calling it a “dark, dark time” for abortion rights in the United States.
“Abortion has never been so dangerous in America,” he said.
Opponents of abortion rights say the proposed legislation, which President Biden said he would sign if it hit his desk, goes far beyond Rowe’s decision to allow late-term abortions and lift government restrictions on abortions that are widely used. public support. .
“The misnamed Women’s Health Act is the most sweeping abortion bill in the history of the United States,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life. “It would enshrine federal law on on-demand pre-birth abortions and repeal state laws – new and existing – that protect unborn children and their mothers.”
Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and minority leader, criticized Democrats for holding a “show vote” on the Senate floor when more pressing issues, such as the conflict in Ukraine, needed to be addressed. He predicted the maneuver would backfire on Democrats, noting that opinion polls show a majority of Americans are in favor of some sort of restriction on abortion, especially late-term abortion.
The state of abortion in the US
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Who performs abortions in America? The portrait of abortion has changed with society. Teenagers today have far fewer abortions. typical patient most likely, she is already a mother, poor, unmarried, she is about 20 years old, she has some higher education and is pregnant at a very early date.
Abortion pills. Medical abortion is becoming an increasingly affordable and preferred method of terminating a pregnancy. More than half of abortions in the US are currently conducted with abortion pills, and the Food and Drug Administration has said it will permanently allow patients get them in the mail.
“Once again, our colleagues want to demonstrate that today’s Democratic Party is ruled by a far-left radical,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “I want to thank the Senate Majority Leader for making clear what his party’s priorities are.”
Both sides are bracing for abortion rights to be a major issue in the November election, especially if the Supreme Court decision in May or June is seen as eviscerating Roe. While abortion has traditionally been seen as an issue that is a stronger motivator for conservatives, Democrats say a court decision to repeal Row and extend new restrictions on abortion across the country could rally women voters and turn the issue in their favor.
Democrats made no attempt to hide the fact that Monday’s vote was aimed at putting Republicans on the ticket.
“Make no mistake,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and the bill’s lead author, “reproductive freedom will be up for a vote in November.”