by WorldTribune Staff, March 1, 2022
Democrats' attempt to force states to allow abortions for any reason until at least the point of viability was defeated in the Senate on Monday as West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin voted with Republicans.
The Women’s Health Protection Act pushed by Democrats would have banned most restrictions on abortion up to the point of birth; would have invalidated all state and local laws restricting what types of abortion procedures are permissible; and would have banned requirements that doctors give women medical tests such as ultrasounds before administering abortions, unless such requirements also applied to 'medically comparable procedures.' "
The vote was 46 yeas and 48 nays, with all Republicans voting against the bill and every Democrat except Manchin voting in favor.
The bill was expected to fail as it would have needed several Republicans’ support to reach the necessary 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.
The Supreme Court signaled it could overturn Roe v. Wade and permit a Mississippi ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The court’s decision in that case is expected in late spring.
Some 26 states would move to immediately ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy research group.
Pro-abortion advocates saw Monday's vote as an opportunity to force senators to go on the record on abortion ahead of the 2022 midterms.
“Abortion is a fundamental right and women’s decisions over women’s healthcare belong to women, not to extremist right-wing legislators,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters ahead of Monday’s vote. “Every American deserves to know where their senator stands on an issue as important as the right to choose.”
Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines said of the bill: “It’s extreme. It’s an egregious violation of the most fundamental of all human rights, and that is the right to life.”
Jeane Mancini, president of the March for Life, said it was the most radical abortion legislation in American history: “This bill is obviously designed by pro-abortion politicians to appease the abortion lobby.”
"The bill proposed various deregulatory measures that would have loosened safety requirements nationwide for abortion providers, such as ending restrictions on doctors prescribing pills via 'telemedicine' for do-it-yourself chemical abortions at home," The Daily Caller noted in a Feb 28 report.
Abortion is a procedure used “primarily by women,” the bill explained before justifying the use of the word “woman,” and noting that “transgender men” and “non-binary individuals” need abortion rights too.
