US Senate votes on abortion bill — Analysis

On Wednesday, the US Senate voted down a bill which would have allowed abortion access to be granted almost unrestricted. Democrats brought the bill to a vote after a leaked draft opinion indicated that Roe v. Wade would be overturned by the US Supreme Court. The 1973 ruling had guaranteed access to abortions since 1973.
The Senate voted 51-49 against the Women’s Health Protection Act, with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin the only Democrat to side with his Republican colleagues in opposing the bill. Although the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a tie-breaking vote, Democrats still would have needed 60 votes to pass the bill, thanks to the Senate’s filibuster rule.
After a Supreme Court employee leaked a draft opinion from conservative Justice Samuel Alito, a staffer said that the court was about to strike down Roe v. Wade. The bill, which had been around since last year, was put up for a vote by Chuck Schumer (D–New York). This 1973 ruling, which has kept abortion legal in America for more than 50 years, was based on an ambiguous opinion. “egregiously wrong” “exceptionally weak”Alito disagreed with Alito’s reading of the Constitution.

After the vote, President Joe Biden accused Republicans de standing “in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies,” and vowed to get the bill passed next year should Democrats expand their majority in Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Although liberal media outlets and Democrats referred to the bill as codifying Roe V. Wade’s rights, Manchin stated that he had voted against the bill. “is not Roe v. Wade codification, it is an expansion. This expands abortion.
Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to an abortion under the Constitution’s right to privacy, stating that pregnant women can avail themselves of the procedure without “excessive government restriction.”However, the state can still make laws restricting abortion to the first or second stages of pregnancy. This can include requiring that those who seek abortion must first get counselling and wait for the procedure to take place.
Women’s Health Protection Act would repeal all laws that prevent abortions before a foetus is able to survive without the mother’s help. It would also allow abortions after the point. “health care provider” – a term that includes nurses and assistants – deems the woman’s “health” in danger.
The term “health”The bill does not define it. Conservatives expressed concerns that the clause could be used in order to give abortion right up until birth.
LEARN MORE
White House comment on Supreme Court protests
The bill also instructs the courts to “liberally construe”all its definitions are removed and so-called “conscience protections”That currently allows hospitals and religious doctors to refuse to perform abortions.
Pew Research’s polling shows that while 61% think ending pregnancy should always be legal, 22% only support aborting a woman in the last trimester.
Schumer however has made it clear that he will make abortion a major issue during the next round of the midterm elections. “We are going to continue to highlight this issue relentlessly and strongly,”He said this after Wednesday’s election. “We are going to keep fighting and keep fighting and keep fighting, until we win.”
Share this story via social media
[ad_2]