Congress has failed to pass legislation that would keep abortion legal nationwide, whether or not the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Senate on Monday stopped legislation that had been passed by the House of Represenativies that would “protect a person’s ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services.”
Senate Republicans, joined by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted against advancement of the Women’s Health Protection Act, H.R. 3755. The bill would have legalized abortion on demand nationwide at any stage of pregnancy and would have eliminated pro-life laws at every level of government -- including parental notification for minor girls, informed consent, and health or safety protections specific to abortion facilities.
H.R. 3755, which passed in the House last fall largely along party lines, also would have required all Americans to support abortions here and abroad with their tax dollars.
In addition, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says it likely would have forced health care providers and professionals to perform, assist in, and/or refer for abortion against their deeply-held beliefs, as well as forced employers and insurers to cover or pay for abortion.
“The failure to advance this extreme measure today is a tremendous relief. We must respect and support mothers, their unborn children, and the consciences of all Americans,” said Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, in a statement. “Passing H.R. 3755 would have led to the loss of millions of unborn lives and left countless women to suffer from the physical and emotional trauma of abortion. Rather than providing comprehensive material and social support for a challenging pregnancy, H.R. 3755 fails women and young girls in need by instead offering a free abortion as the ‘solution’ to their difficulty. Women deserve better than this. We implore Congress to promote policies that recognize the value and human dignity of both mother and child.”
Lawmakers voted 48-46 against ending debate and allowing a vote on the bill. Sixty votes were necessary to move ahead to a vote on the bill itself. Democratic leadership did not expect the vote to reach that threshold but seemed to want to hold the vote in order to get senators on the record, in a year when abortion could well be a big issue in the mid-term elections.
“Make no mistake,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-CT (in photo above), a chief author of the legislation, “reproductive freedom will be on the ballot in November.”
During debate, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, said, “Tonight, the hard-left formally kicked the old slogan of ‘safe, legal, and rare’ to the curb and embraced extreme pro-abortion politics.”
