US Senate Blocks Bill Codifying Abortion Rights Into Law Amid Roe v. Wade SCOTUS Fallout
20:27 GMT 11.05.2022 (Updated: 20:35 GMT 19.10.2022)
© AP Photo / Senate TV
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The Women's Health Protection Act is a Democrat-led bill that seeks to effectively codify a right to an abortion. Wednesday’s vote is widely viewed as a symbolic effort, as the matter would have to reach a 60-vote threshold in the evenly divided, 100-member chamber, and Democrats remain unable to reach a consensus on the issue.
With a 49-51 vote, the US Senate has moved in opposition to the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 (S.4132), a bill that would codify the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was the sole Democrat to vote ‘nay.’
The right for a woman to elect to have an abortion without excessive government restriction has been under threat since last week’s leak of SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito’s majority draft opinion–a document that appeared to show that Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh joined Alito in voting to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"Republicans in Congress--not one of whom voted for this bill--have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives," US President Joe Biden said following the vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Democrats plan to regroup and focus on the issue again "between now and November."
"We are going to focus on this issue again and again and again between now and November. We are going to keep fighting and keep fighting and keep fighting, until we win," Sen. Majority Leader Schumer says following a 49-51 Senate vote, failing to advance an abortion rights bill. pic.twitter.com/XGCObbaF3q
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2022
"We are going to keep fighting and keep fighting and keep fighting, until we win," the Senate majority leader proclaimed.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was among the many Biden administration officials to speak out in support of maintaining Roe v. Wade. The US chief financial officer claimed on Tuesday that repealing the decision could have a lasting negative impact on the nation’s economy.
“I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decade,” Yellen said during a enate Banking Committee hearing, responding to a question posed by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a longtime supporter of court reform to undo Roe v. Wade, recently argued that the issue of abortion would be something dealt with “at state level,” rather than federal.
“Historically, there have been abortion votes on the floor of the Senate. None of them have achieved 60 votes,” McConnell said from the Senate floor earlier this week. “I think it’s safe to say there aren’t 60 votes there at the federal level, no matter who happens to be in the majority, no matter who happens to be in the White House.”
The Senate minority leader has also argued that the leak of Alito’s draft opinion makes the SCOTUS “less secure and less impartial.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who voted in favor of the Democrat-led bill on Wednesday, has argued that the US cannot compromise on women's equal protection under law.
"This is about making sure that everyone in this country has a right to make a decision for themselves about pregnancy," Warren told 'CBS This Morning.'
She also called on Americans to elect leaders who can pass legislation in support of the Roe v. Wade decision.
