The senators closed the door to the project entitled Women’s Health Protection Act
with 51 votes once morest 49, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who is among the most conservative of his training, having joined the 50 Republicans.
It was in fact a procedural vote that would have paved the way for a subsequent vote on the bill if 60 elected officials had given their approval.
Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who are pro-choice but who propose a project with a more modest scope, remained united with their colleagues.
Last week, Ms. Collins had explained her opposition to the Democrats’ bill by the fact that it supplanted other rights, for example that of a Catholic hospital not to perform abortions.
The outcome of the vote was expected, but the goal was more to put Republicans on the spot when the majority of Americans say they support abortion in all or most cases
.
Every American will see which side every senator stands on
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week.
In the evening, President Joe Biden, quoted by Archyde.com, predicted during a donor event held in Chicago, Illinois, that the turn that the Supreme Court seems to be regarding to make on abortion might be a prelude to the erosion of other rights.
« Remember what I’m saying: they’re going to attack the […] Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage rights. »
You are going to see these decisions being challenged and further dividing the United States. We’re gonna argue regarding things we shouldn’t have to argue regarding
he said, also referring to contraception.
In his factum filed with the Supreme Court in connection with the challenge brought by Mississippiwhose anti-abortion law is at the center of the dispute, the Biden administration had also argued that reversing Roe c. Wade would threaten court precedents on other rights.
This is the second time this year that the Democratic camp has proposed to legislate on abortion. Last February, an almost identical project that had been approved by the House of Representatives suffered the same fate in the Senate.
An electoral issue
Quickly following the vote, the elected Democrats also showed their intention to make the question an electoral issue.
Lamenting unprecedented attacks
once morest women’s constitutional rights, President Biden slammed Republicans in a statement, decrying a vote that goes to once morest the will of a majority of Americans
.
To protect the right to choose, voters must elect more pro-choice senators in November and restore a pro-choice majority in the House. If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January and lay it on my desk so I can sign it.
he said.
The contrast between the parties is obvious
also launched Mr. Schumer following leaving the House. Elect more pro-choice Democrats if you want a woman to be in control of her own body, […] if you want to protect freedom and the right to choose women.
« Elect more Republicans […] if you want to see a national ban on abortion, if you want to see doctors and women arrested, if you want there to be no exception for rape or incest. »
Democrats will never stop defending our basic freedoms. When they vote next November, the American people will remember those who sought to punish women and control their decisions and those who fought tirelessly alongside them.
for its part supported the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in a press release.
For their part, several Republicans have instead portrayed their opponents as a group with extremist positions.
I voted no to the radical Democrat bill that would legalize abortion until the moment of birth
tweeted Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, evoking an argument often hammered by the Republican camp.Wade”,”text”:”It was a sweeping bill that goes far beyond Roe v. Wade”}}”>It was a sweeping bill that goes far beyond Roe v. wadehe hammered.
If a majority of Americans say they support abortion in all or most cases
Americans do not show absolute support for abortion rights when polls offer more options.
Abortion has long been an issue that mobilizes Republican voters, particularly within the religious right, which also contributed to the victory of Donald Trump in 2016.
The latter had promised to appoint only conservative judges opposed to abortion. He was also able to appoint three magistrates, who came to anchor the highest court in the country further to the right.
A decision that would mark a major shift
Last Tuesday, a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision indicated that the nation’s top court seemed willing to overturn Roe v. Wade, who has protected abortion rights in the United States for 50 years.
The leak, published on the Politico site, sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party and the pro-choice camp but delighted abortion opponents and most elected Republicans.
The 1973 judgment has so far set the standard in a country where the federal government does not provide a legislative framework on terminations of pregnancy.
The Court’s decision is expected in late June or early July.
If the precedent is indeed overturned, the choice of allowing, restricting or completely prohibiting abortion will be up to the States.
About 20 states, led by Republicans, are willing to ban it or significantly restrict it. Thirteen of them have even already prepared a law which would enter into force immediately or very quickly following a court decision going in the direction they hope.
In at least one of these states, Louisiana, some elected Republicans want to go further by allowing criminal prosecutions once morest women who have abortions.
Recently, Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell further indicated that a federal ban on abortion was possible
.
