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Senator Susan Collins (Maine), one of two prominent Republican senators who support abortion rights, said Thursday that she did not support a democratic measure that would create a legal right to the procedure, arguing that the legislation does not provide adequate health protection against abortion providers.
Collins’ statement comes as the Senate prepares to vote next week on legislation known as the Women’s Health Act, and as the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn the landmark Rowe vs. Wade a decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion.
“It replaces all other federal and state laws, including the protection of conscience in the Affordable Care Act,” Collins told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday when asked if she supported the bill, authored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn). ). She added: “This does not protect the right of a Catholic hospital not to have abortions. This right has been enshrined in law for a long time. “
The measure appears to be aimed at failing with or without Collins’ support, as 60 senators will have to vote in favor to overcome the filibuster. Democrats have a slim majority with 50 seats in the House, and Vice President Harris is casting a vote.
Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support the right to abortion in most cases.
Collins and Senator Lisa Markowski (R-Alaska), who also supports abortion rights, voted against an earlier version of the law in February. At the time, Collins expressed similar concerns about the effect of the legislation on health care providers who do not want to have abortions.
Following the expiration of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion on abortion, the bill was modified this week to omit pages of legislative facts involving some politically divisive language, but the essence of the bill remained the same.
A Democrat who voted against the previous legislation in February, Senator Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), will not say on Thursday whether he will support the modified bill. “I’m looking at everything,” he told reporters. “You know, we have to unite the country, don’t we?” We just have to get back together. “
Democrats said on Thursday that Collins’ concerns about the rights of health care providers against abortion were unfounded.
“Some say the legislation will tell hospitals – some religious hospitals – to have abortions,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) told a news conference Thursday afternoon, without giving his name. Collins. “It’s just not true. This bill simply gives providers the legal right to provide abortion care without medical restrictions. This is clear and simple. So this rumor is false. “
Although there are no specific protections of conscience in the bill, previous court precedents will remain in place, Democrats say.
Collins and Mrkowski proposed a competing bill, the Reproductive Choice Act, which is much more closely drafted than the Democratic Bill and has no other co-sponsors. The bill is viewed with skepticism by Democrats, who believe there are loopholes that would allow state laws such as the Mississippi Act, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Sumer said on Thursday that he was not voting on the Collins-Markowski measure because “we are not cutting; we do not compromise. “
“It’s about a woman’s right to choose – entirely,” he said. “We are not looking for a compromise [on] something as vital as that. People need to show where they stand. This is American law for 50 years. And this idea: “Do a little of this; do a little of that. Forget it. “
At Thursday’s press conference, Sumer and other Senate Democrats gave some clues as to what steps could follow after next week’s vote. But they criticized Republicans, with Sumer promising that when the issue came to a vote, Republican senators “would not be able to hide from the horror they unleashed on America.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minorium) said Republicans were taking the country back – not to the 1950s, as some Democrats say, but “back to the 1850s”.
And Senator Kirsten Gilibrand (DN.Y.) condemned the Supreme Court’s draft opinion as “barbaric” and “inhuman.”
“I don’t think 50 percent of America should be told to put their bodies at risk of life or death without their consent. “I hope that every human being in this country understands that when you take away a woman’s right to make decisions about her health and well-being, she is no longer a full citizen,” Gillibrand said.
The New York Democrat also countered concerns about the leak, calling for greater scrutiny of judges who testified during the confirmation process that they would follow the precedent – but support the repeal. deer.
“It is outrageous that we have five judges in the Supreme Court who lied – lied – in their confirmation hearings to be confirmed,” Gillibrand said. “It is outrageous that in today’s America, our judiciary is so corrupt and so politicized that it no longer represents the will of the people. … Five said they would never undermine the established precedent. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
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