Abortion rights bill fails in US Senate as Supreme Court ruling looms
- A push to codify Roe vs Wade into law was blocked by the Republicans and Democrat lawmaker Joe Manchin
- The effort came amid a political firestorm ignited by a leaked draft opinion that showed the top court preparing to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling
A Democratic drive to make the right to abortion the law of the land failed in the US Senate on Wednesday after Republicans refused to allow a vote on the deeply polarising issue that threatens to upend the upcoming midterm election campaign.
The House-passed Women’s Health Protection Act would have created a federal statute assuring healthcare providers have the right to provide abortions and patients have the right to receive them.
The effort came amid a political firestorm ignited by a leaked draft opinion that showed the Supreme Court’s conservative majority preparing to overturn Roe vs Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing abortion access nationwide.
But it was always a doomed and largely symbolic push, as Democrats already knew they would not be able to secure the 60 votes needed to advance towards a final yes or no vote in the evenly divided 100-member Senate.
In the end, all 50 Republicans and one of the 50 Democrats, West Virginia centrist Joe Manchin, rejected considering the legislation. Manchin’s vote was no surprise as he had telegraphed his “no” hours earlier.