by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote by Democratic senators to codify protections from Roe vs. Wade It is not mere bragging.
The Democratic Senate introduced an adjournment, a procedure that limits debate to break a filibuster, on the Women’s Health Protection Act. This is despite the fact that the Democrats only have 50 votes and cannot break the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster.
“I want to be clear: this week’s vote is not an abstract exercise; this is as real and as risky as it gets, and Senate Republicans will no longer be able to hide from the horror they have unleashed on women in America,” she said.
Schumer also quoted the words of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said USA Today over the weekend that a national abortion ban is “possible” if Roe vs. Wade is overturned
But McConnell said in the interview and in a floor speech that he would not throw off the filibuster to pass such legislation.
“I will never, ever support crushing legislative filibuster on this issue or any other,” McConnell said. “Yet the Democrats want to trash our institutions for their marginal position that Americans do not share.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said it was important to show that Democrats are fighting to protect abortion rights secured by Roe v Wade. Last week, a draft Supreme Court opinion was leaked showing that the court planned to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court ruling.
“It’s important that Americans and voters know where their senators stand on this critical issue,” he said. the independent. “Because it’s important to show that we’re fighting and this is just the first step in the fight, but it’s also important to show which side the senators are on.”
Under the legislation, state governments could not restrict the ability of abortion providers to prescribe certain abortion medications, offer services via telemedicine, or provide immediate abortion services if the providers determine that a delay would harm the parents life.
It also prohibits state governments from requiring abortion providers to perform unnecessary medical procedures, provide scientifically inaccurate information about abortions; have credentials that are not directly related to the provision of abortions; or perform all services related to an abortion.
But the Democrats, who have only 50 votes, will probably not be able to get past the 60-vote threshold to stop a filibuster. Earlier this year, Senator Joe Manchin voted against the legislation.
“It’s almost always a numbers game,” Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told reporters. “We need more pro-choice Democratic senators, that’s what we need.”
Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, one of only two Democratic senators not to co-sponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act, said he would vote to allow the legislation to move forward.
“We have, this is a vote,” Casey told reporters. Casey is one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in the Senate. His father, former Governor Bob Casey Sr, opposed abortion rights and his name is on the title of Planned Parenthood vs. Caseythe 1993 Supreme Court case that upheld Roe and said restrictions on abortion could not impose an “undue burden.”
But Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has her own legislation along with fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski to codify Roe, criticized the Democratic senators’ response to her concerns. Last week, Ms. Collins said she was concerned Democratic legislation would supersede state and federal legislation that protects against people and hospitals who might object to performing an abortion, such as Catholic hospitals.
“That is not correct,” she said. “They must have misread their legislation.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, the lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, said it was not about Ms Collins’ vote because she is just one of 10 votes Democrats would need to break a filibuster. .
“So, fundamentally, obstructionism is front and center,” he said. Blumenthal said that abortion rights are under threat and the vote could motivate people to participate in the 2022 midterm elections.
“Unquestionably, the Roe opinion that has already leaked and the final opinion that will probably set off a storm of electoral energy and I think it will be a great motivator,” he said.
