(EFE).- As expected, Democrats in the US Senate on Wednesday were not able to marshal enough votes to pass their bill to protect the right to abortion on the federal level, a right that the overwhelmingly conservative Supreme Court seems poised to eliminate in the coming weeks.
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The bill failed to pass in a key vote, given that Democrats needed the support of 60 of the 100 US senators to begin debate on the measure in the Senate, and the 50 Republicans had been expected to vote as a bloc against it.
In fact, that is what happened, with all GOP senators voting “no” on the bill while all Democrats but one voted “yes.”
The only Democratic senator to break ranks with his party was West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, the very last senator to cast his vote, thus making the final vote tally 49 for the measure and 51 against.
The vote came amid a climate of considerable tension after last week media outlet Politico published a leaked draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling to revoke the right to abortion, which the high court had enshrined in its historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
The leak put Democrats on the defensive, given that overturning Roe v. Wade would allow Republicans to restrict and even eliminate the right to abortion by returning the authority to determine whether abortion is legal to the states, where local legislatures could approve laws against a woman’s right to choose.
“All of us will have to answer for this vote for the rest of our time in public office,” Schumer said on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday before the vote. “Before the day is over, every member of this body will make a choice to stand with women to protect their freedoms or stand with MAGA Republicans to take our country into a dark and repressive future.”
The Senate Majority Leader was referring to former President Donald Trump’s slogan to “Make America Great Again,” a slogan that has been adopted by the GOP base as its mantra.
Schumer has pushed for the vote with the aim of forcing all senators to take a public position on the matter despite the fact that the bill had little chance of passing.
Members of the squad marched to the Senate to make their demands.
We marched to the Senate to demand action to protect abortion rights.
Abortion care is a human right & we won't stop fighting until our policies & budgets reflect that truth.
My statement on the Senate's failure to pass the Women's Health Protection Act:https://t.co/dGghWNiF0T pic.twitter.com/SODirwoDR6
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) May 11, 2022
President Joe Biden said after the vote that the stance of the Senate Republicans “runs counter to the will of the majority of (the) American people.”
“Republicans in Congress – not one of whom voted for this bill – have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives,” he said.
“To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House. If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January, and put it on my desk, so I can sign it into law,” the president added in his statement.
Currently, the Senate is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, although the latter have a technical majority since Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, could break any tie.
Schumer said that there will be “real” and “immediate” consequences if the Supreme Court nullifies Roe v. Wade.
Specifically, if the high court overturns the right to abortion on the federal level, 26 of the 50 states are sure to take measures to restrict it in their jurisdictions.
That would mean that approximately half of the women of reproductive age in the US, some 36 million, would find themselves without access to abortion in the states where they live, according to calculations by Planned Parenthood, the largest network of reproductive health clinics in the US.
© 2022 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.
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God bless Joe Manchin who by his actions and his words has earned himself a Bold entry in the very book of life, to be written every bit as bold as John Hancock’s on our Declaration of Independence. The American people of Conscience are arising to take back what was taken away not by our law-making elected Representatives, but creative Judges who reflect the image of the Great Consumer, who call THE PEOPLE American consumers every chance they can to manipulate our minds to forget we were created to be a nation of CREATION, and live in the image of he who created us all.
PITY more dems didn’t vote against this.. IT just goes to show how SICK the entire DNC is.
They will all need counseling and TLC—their world is falling apart. They are being targeted and victimized by Conservatives and Constitutionalists and pro-life people—it is so unfair. “We’re trying so hard to ruin this country and everything keeps getting in the way. Just because we’re psychotic we have to be treated this way.”
baby killers call them what they are republicans!
In other words, 51 senators have declared themselves to be in favor of infanticide. Hopefully for their own sakes they will have a good explanation on Judgement Day. However I don’t think there is one that will make God happy.
You have it backwards. 51 Senators voted AGAINST the bill. Does anyone notice that when only one Republican votes with Democrats it’s “bipartisan”, but when Manchin votes with Republicans it’s Republicans blocking the bill?
Chucky wanted all the Senators on the record for or against abortion. I hope this backfires on the Democrats. This bill that failed would’ve allowed abortion right up until birth. Now every Democrat running for election should have to answer for their support of infanticide.
Prob is most of their voter base is probably WITH them on this..
So very glad that biden keeps MAGA in mind but should also remember that he/his adminstration has turned this great nation in MAGGOT. This should be the democrats slogan: “we are united as MAGGOTS” for what we are doing to this great country.
Amendment 10 – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,”
So exactly why does this immoral, demonic, treasonous, socialist Democrat Party ruled Congress think that it has the rights to dictate their opinions pertaining to abortions to the States and the citizens??
When the U.S. Constitution did NOT give such power to the United States federal government.
BECAUSE to the feds, THEY DO NOT CARE what the constitution says, THEY WANT POWER..