Legislative battles over abortion access are heating up in the House and Senate as Democrats seek to increase pressure on Republicans.
A series of bills aimed at protecting abortion access that were introduced by Democrats were considered on Capitol Hill last week, leading to the first instances of lawmakers going head-to-head over such legislation since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.
Although the bills are unlikely to pass the evenly divided Senate, where they would require bipartisan support to overcome a legislative filibuster, Democrats are pushing for action after the court’s ruling and are seeking to get Republican members of Congress to oppose protocol legislation on the issue in an apparent attempt to paint GOP lawmakers as going to extremes to stop abortion.
Republicans, in turn, have accused Democrats of fearmongering when they say the GOP will try to block access to contraception and try to enact a nationwide abortion ban.
A bill that codifies abortion access protections into federal law — the Women’s Health Protection Act — passed the House 219-209 almost entirely along party lines on Friday, after previously being approved by the chamber in September. Democrat Henry Cuellar (Texas) voted against the measure, along with all but two Republican members who abstained.
Republican lawmakers criticized the legislation as a form of government overreach during debate on it Friday, with several members calling it an “abortion-on-demand-until-birth bill.” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (Washington), R-Washington, has argued that she is repealing state laws that protect women from being forced to terminate their pregnancies, and says she would force doctors to perform abortions.
The House also on Friday passed a bill 223-205 that would protect out-of-state travel for abortions, with three Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Adam Kinzinger (Illinois) and Fred Upton (Michigan). — joining Democrats in voting for the measure.
Democratic lawmakers criticized their Republican colleagues for opposing the bill.
“It’s absolutely critical that Republicans go on the record about how far they will go to limit a woman’s rights,” Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.) told The Hill. “Are they really saying that women should not be allowed to travel to another country to get a medical procedure?”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) communications director Henry Connolly tweeted shortly after the vote: “It’s really, really scary that 205 House Republicans just voted to allow states to arrest, fine or sue women for traveling to get an abortion *even when it’s still legal.*”
GOP opposition means both bills are unlikely to pass the evenly divided Senate, where they would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. The upper house has already failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act twice since September, and this week a Republican senator blocked a separate bill aimed at protecting those who travel across state lines to get an abortion.
On Tuesday, Democratic senators unveiled legislation that would bar state legislatures from banning or restricting interstate travel to perform abortions in states where they are still allowed. The bill was quickly brought up for a unanimous vote in the Senate just days after it was introduced, only to be blocked by Republican Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma).
Lankford tried to focus the debate around the fetal life bill, saying in remarks opposing the legislation, “The conversation today is not just about women. There are two people in this conversation – a child with 10 fingers and 10 toes and a beating heart and DNA that is uniquely different from mom’s DNA or dad’s DNA.”
Democratic lawmakers, on the contrary, sought to emphasize the rights of pregnant people.
Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (New York) described the bill as protecting privacy rights, with Gillibrand specifically saying it was not about a medical procedure but about the privacy of pregnant people, as well as for their freedom to travel state lines.
A number of Democrats, including President Biden, called on the Senate to make an exception to the filibuster to codify abortion rights after Roe was overturned. Chu, the sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, reiterated his support for eliminating the filibuster to pass the bill, blaming the two pro-abortion-rights Senate Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — for being at a standstill. Changing the filibuster, however, would require the support of all 50 Democratic senators, and Sens. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and Kirsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) oppose the rule change.
As Democrats in Congress seek to pass abortion protections, party leaders like Biden and Pelosi are encouraging Americans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections to ensure access to abortion.
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Biden criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe earlier this month, saying, “The court is now effectively forcing the women of America to go to the polls and restore the same rights that were just taken away from them.”
The president previously urged voters to elect more abortion-rights-supporting lawmakers when the Women’s Health Protection Act failed to pass a Senate vote earlier this year.
“We really have to do everything,” Chu said of the multiple approaches Democrats are taking to protect abortion access. “During those three weeks, there were non-stop marches, demonstrations and rallies across America. We need to do that and we also need to specify the choices.
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