US Senate Republicans block vote on bill to enshrine abortion rights

It is set to be a hot button issue for November’s mid-term elections, when control of both houses will be at stake.

Representatives Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapaland and Carolyn Maloney chant ‘my body, my decision’ on the Senate side of the US Capitol on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

A Democrat drive to make the right to abortion legal failed in the US Senate on Thursday after Republicans ­refused to allow a vote on the issue that threatens to upend the mid-term election campaign.

The House of Representatives-passed Women’s Health Protection Act would have ­created a federal statute enshrining the right to abortion. The effort came amid a political firestorm ­ignited by a leaked draft opinion that showed the Supreme Court’s conservative majority preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing abortion access nationwide.

But it was always a doomed and largely symbolic push, as Democrats already knew they would not be able to secure the 60 votes needed to advance towards a final yes or no vote in the evenly divided 100-member Senate.

In the end, all 50 Republicans and one of the 50 Democrats, West Virginia centrist Joe Manchin, rejected considering the legislation. Senator Manchin’s vote was no surprise as he had telegraphed his “no” hours earlier.

President Joe Biden vowed never to “stop fighting to protect access to women’s reproductive care” and urged voters to elect more pro-choice senators. “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.

Although the outcome was never in doubt, the rejection is seen as significant, with abortion rights set to be a hot-button issue for November’s mid-term elections, when control of both the house and Senate will be at stake.

A raucous crowd of members from the house, which passed the legislation last September, gathered on the Senate side of the building chanting “my body, my decision” ahead of the vote.

They had been encouraged by a Politico/Morning Consult poll showing 53 per cent of voters thought Roe should not be overturned, up three points since last week, while 58 per cent said it was important to vote for a candidate who supports abortion access.

AFP