US Republicans block contentious Senate abortion rights vote

A Democratic drive to make the right toabortionthe law of the land failed in the USSenateon Wednesday afterRepublicansrefused to allow avoteon the deeply polarizing issue that threatens to upend the upcoming midtermelectioncampaign.

The House-passed Women's Health Protection Act would have created a federal statute assuring health care providers have the right to provide abortions and patients have the right to receive them.

The effort came amid a political firestorm ignited by a leaked draft opinion that showed the Supreme Court's conservative majority preparing to overturnRoe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeingabortionaccess nationwide.

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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 novotein the evenly divided 100-memberSenate.

In the end, all 50Republicansand one of the 50 Democrats, West Virginia centrist Joe Manchin, rejected considering the legislation. Manchin'svotewas 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.

"Republicansin Congress -- not one of whom voted for this bill -- have chosen to stand in the way of Americans'rightsto make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives," he said in a statement.

Although the outcome was never in doubt, the rejection is seen as significant, withabortionrightsset to be a hot button issue for November's midtermelections, when control of both the House andSenatewill be at stake.

Watch |US Senate may vote on abortion rights law

A raucous crowd of lawmakers from the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress, which passed the legislation last September, gathered on theSenateside of the building chanting "my body, my decision" ahead of thevote.

They had been encouraged by new Politico/Morning Consult polling showing 53 percent of voters thought Roe should not be overturned, up three percentage points since last week,while 58 percent said it was important tovotefor a candidate who supportsabortionaccess.

"Generally, the people whovoteand turn out based onabortionpolicy are those who support more restrictions onabortionrights," said Shana Gadarian, professor of political science at Syracuse University.

"By striking down Roe, this is likely to create a new constituency of pro-choice voters who are activated to turn out and donate in ways that they would not normally in a midtermelection."

Day of action

SenateMinority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested over the weekend that a federalabortionban is "possible" if Roe is overturned, although he has since acknowledged that no position on the issue has ever achieved the 60-votethreshold.

But Democrats seized on the initial remark, arguing that highlighting their disagreement withRepublicanscould help them in the midterms.

"If we are not successful, then we go to the ballot box," Senator Amy Klobuchar told ABC on Sunday.

"We march straight to the ballot box, and the women of this country and the men who stand with them willvotelike they've never voted before."

Activism around the issue is becoming increasingly acrimonious, with angry protesters in favor ofabortionrightsgathering at the homes of Supreme Court justices in Washington over the past week.

Multiple organizations that supportabortionrightshave called for a "massive day of action" on Saturday, with marches in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as hundreds of smaller events nationwide.

Police in the nation's capital, still on edge after Congress was attacked by a mob of former president Donald Trump's supporters in 2021, have set up temporary fencing around the court.

The leaked opinion is also spawning renewed calls by progressives to add justices to the court, fueled by the possibility the conservative-majority bench could overturn other landmark decisions.

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