Dhe defeat in the Senate was calculated, it was much more about the symbolism. And so it didn’t take long for Democrats to voice their outrage at the expected decision against the federal abortion law bill. The decision was “contrary to the will of a large part of the American people,” said President Joe Biden after the vote.
Republicans in Congress have chosen to stand in the way of American women’s right to “make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, their families, and their lives.” Biden called for more senators to be elected to support abortion legislation. Then Congress could approve the bill in January and “put it on my desk so I can sign the law.”
It was no surprise that the federal abortion law bill failed by a vote of 51 to 49. This fell far short of the 60-vote majority needed to get the bill put to the vote. That had already happened once at the end of February. But since the breach of the Supreme Court’s draft document a week and a half ago, suggesting that the landmark Roe v. Wade” from 1973 is overturned, the topic has been boiled up again. For Democrats, it has become the biggest campaign issue ahead of November’s midterm election, one they hope to use to defend at least one of two narrow majorities in Congress.
“One of the worst court decisions ever”
On Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote was “one of the most momentous we’ll hold in the next few decades.” For the first time in fifty years, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court is about to “deny women freedom over their own bodies.” This was “one of the worst decisions of the court ever”. The vote will go down in history as a disgrace.
However, with the fifty Republicans on Wednesday afternoon, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, who had kept open until morning whether he would vote with his party, also voted. Manchin had already been noticed as a ricochet when he duped Biden by rejecting his social package. Manchin said the reasoning behind the decision against the bill was that it was “not the same” as Roe v. Wade,” even if that’s what the Democrats wanted people to believe. “This is expanding abortion.”
If the landmark decision “Roe v. Wade” of 1973 overturned by the Supreme Court, the individual states would be responsible for corresponding laws. In many conservatively governed states, abortion is then to be largely banned or at least made considerably more difficult. Abortions are currently allowed at least until the fetus is viable, around 24 weeks.
McConnell warned against bill
Many Republicans argue that the bill, which has now failed to pass a vote, would still allow abortions late in pregnancy. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Minority Leader, said Wednesday before the vote, “The Democrats could not have written a more extreme bill.” It was scary that something like this would be written in 2022. “The Americans have to see what has become of the extreme left.” That’s why he’s glad that the Senate is voting today.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska in Wednesday’s debate called on both parties to focus politically on an “ethic of life” — such as more prenatal care and an expanded social safety net for pregnant women and new mothers. Especially in states where after the tipping of “Roe v. Wade” that abortion would be significantly restricted and made more difficult, Republicans assert, would make it easier for women to raise children. “Where is the humanity,” Sasse asked in the Senate, blasting Democrats with a “brutal indifference” in sticking to abortion rights instead of politically supporting mothers and children.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke after the vote of “extremist Republican leaders” in the country who seek to “criminalize and punish women for making decisions about their bodies.” Like Biden, she called for support for pro-choice candidates not only at the federal level, but also in local and gubernatorial elections.
#Abortion #law #failed #Contrary #American #people