The abortion bill, called the Women’s Health Protection Act, that would declare abortion a human right, undercut existing state pro-life laws, and force objecting doctors to perform abortions, failed 49-51 in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
The bill, almost an identical version of the one that was voted against in February, failed again by a largely party line vote. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a conservative Democrat, voted against the bill with the Republicans, saying he supported keeping Roe v. Wade but believed the current bill was too broad.
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chair of the bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, relieved at the outcome of the vote said: “More than 60 million unborn children have already lost their lives to abortion, and countless women suffer from the physical and emotional trauma of abortion. This radical bill would add millions more to that tragic toll.”
The proposed legislation, they noted was “an utterly unjust and extreme measure that would impose abortion on demand nationwide at any stage of pregnancy through federal statute.”
“We are relieved that the Senate vote to advance this bill failed for the second time in less than three months,” commented the Bishops.
“This bill insists that elective abortion, including late-term elective abortion, is a ‘human right’ and ‘women’s health care’ -- something that should be promoted, funded, and celebrated,” they said. “S. 4132 is far more extreme than Roe v. Wade.”
“It would invalidate widely supported laws that protect women and unborn children from an unscrupulous abortion industry, would force all Americans to support abortion here and abroad with their tax dollars, and seeks to force religious hospitals and health care professionals to perform abortions against their beliefs,” said Archbishop Lori and Cardinal Dolan.
The bill would also have forced insurers and employers to cover for or pay for abortion.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, said the legislation was “extreme” and “goes further than Roe.”
Thirteen Catholic Senators, including Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., D-Penn., voted in favor of the bill.
President Joe Biden, a professed Catholic, said that Republicans “have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives.”
Congress has battled for years over abortion policy, but the Wednesday vote to take up a House-passed bill was given new urgency after the disclosure of a draft Supreme Court opinion to overturn the Roe decision that many had believed to be settled law.
Vice President Kamala Harris can provide a tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 split Senate, but that was beside the point on Wednesday. conservative Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted with the Republicans, saying he supported keeping Roe v. Wade but believed the current bill was too broad.
About half the states in the US already have approved laws that would further restrict or ban abortions, including some trigger laws that would take effect once the court rules.
Whatever the Supreme Court says this summer, it will almost guarantee a new phase of political fighting in Congress over abortion policy, the most basic rights to health care, privacy and protecting the unborn.
Bishops Lori and Cardinal Dolan also emphasized that legal abortion is also contrary to Americans’ understanding of God-given rights.
“As a nation built on the recognition that every human being is endowed by its Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we implore Congress to stop pushing abortion as a solution to the needs of women and young girls, and instead embrace public policy that fully respects and facilitates these rights and the needs of both mother and child,” the Bishops said.
-CNA/AP