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Senate Republicans block Democratic bill codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections

The legislation, which states that “protections for access to abortion rights … should be supported," was blocked by Republicans who panned it as a “show vote.”

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation led by Democrats to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade in the wake of the Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion.

The vote was 49-44, falling short of the super-majority needed to defeat a filibuster due to broad opposition from Republicans, who dismissed it as a political stunt.

The Reproductive Freedom for Women Act, introduced last month around the second anniversary of the court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, is just a few sentences long. It states that “protections for access to abortion rights and other reproductive health care” after the 2022 ruling “should be supported.” It adds that “the protections enshrined in* Roe v. Wade …* should be restored and built upon, moving towards a future where there is reproductive freedom for all.”

ImADifferentBird ,
@ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

The vote was 49-44, falling short of the super-majority needed to defeat a filibuster

Another reason they should have ditched the filibuster when they had a chance.

Pacattack57 ,

My question is why were 7 votes missing?

Maggoty ,

At 49 it fell short of the normal threshold too.

homura1650 , (edited )

Not quite. You need a quorum of senators present, and more affirmative votes than negative.

Having said that, if this actually was a viable vote with 49 senators supporting, you would probably see more vote. Although, I suspect there are at least a few senate Republicans who would at least abstain to let it pass.

Zeke ,

And this right here is why nothing is getting done. Go vote and not just every 4 years, but in midterms too.

Fedizen ,

voting on things is a “stunt”, sure. We can now cut aside the rhetorical crap and squarely know who is willing to shoot it down.

unmagical ,

Ah the old “political stunt” excuse thrown around EVERY TIME a politician does their job and engages in politics.

deaf_fish ,

Everything is political. Likewise Everything is a political stunt.

Political stunts that remove the right to have an abortion are bad stunts. Political stunts that give the right to have an abortion are good stunts.

nondescripthandle ,

To be fair, I remember a few short years ago Pelosi not letting minimum wage be voted on the floor because since she thought there was no way it would pass it was nothing more than a stunt and it would hurt the movement because people will get tired of voting for it. Why doesn’t that apply here or why was she lying to us then?

Democrats are spineless when it comes to things that may impact rich people even slightly and we’re just lucky no one found a way to make billions off of making abortion illegal.

unmagical ,

Everything’s political, especially on the Hill. Doing or not doing something as a reaction to a “political stunt” is just a cover for not having a valid reason. People by and large want access to reproductive healthcare, just like they also by and large want access to enough money to address their needs of survival, but inevitably some politician recognizing that will result in others screaming “stunt” rather than explaining why the men in Washington get to choose what women do with their bodies and why we necessarily have to have a permanent vulnerable underclass.

nondescripthandle ,

Sounds like when it’s rich people money on the line those ‘men in Washington’ include top Democrats like Pelosi was.

verdantbanana , (edited )
@verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

now that abortion access in certain states have been limited just like with other rights that have devolved into a state’s rights issue people have to have gas, food, and lodging to access extra demographic rights

a PA box which has extra costs compared to a PO box is also required to access demographic rights as well as other hidden costs

so they did find a way

not to mention fundraising for and against it makes a dick ton of money

and it is making people criminals to access these demographics rights

the megacorp prison glomerate will make a shit load as well so the dissidents can have access to basic toiletries, communication with family and friends

next four years are going to suck either way and salt on the wound is Biden’s crimes bill will come back to haunt everyone combined with these latest assaults to our democracy

all adding up

Asafum ,

They get to have both arguments…

“If roe was so important then Congress should make a law.”

“You’re just making a law for show, so no you can’t have it.”

They’re all fucking scumbags.

18_24_61_b_17_17_4 ,
@18_24_61_b_17_17_4@lemmy.world avatar

Never ends with these pieces of shit.

Freefall ,

It would be neat if they got a number of votes based on their population…

BossDj ,

That’s what the house of representatives… represents.

Though California should be something like 3 states by now.

Nougat ,

Senate.

BossDj ,

In the Senate (where this vote happened), every state gets two people regardless of population.

House of reps you get a number of reps based on population

Nougat ,

Yeah, that's the point. This was blocked by Senate Republicans, you know, where the votes do not align with population.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@midwest.social avatar

That is because the Senate is like the UN or other groups of (nation) states where each member has the equivalent number of votes. There is no reason to have a second chamber of congress if both are based on population.

Nougat ,

The Senate only exists to give more political power to assholes.

BossDj ,

Nougat, I was replying to the comment that suggested that the number of votes should represent population. So I was replying that’s what the house of reps is for, not the Senate.

macaro ,

If all states were represented like Wyoming is, there would be 573 reps, not 435.

BossDj ,

I agree. The presumption is that us City folk wouldn’t properly protect rural interest. Which is fair. But doesn’t mean they deserve equal power

nondescripthandle ,

Rural people dont protect city interest either. Doesn’t seem like an excuse to have one person worth more than another. We all have to live here.

BossDj ,

Rural people are a minority. If we went 100% “just do what the majority wants” that doesn’t ever work out for minorities. All minorities need protection, so there is sound intent in the design. It SHOULD work out that minority has a voice. But in practice it’s pretty crappy. It needs reworked. Starting with gerrymandering.

nondescripthandle ,

Proportional representation gives the minority a vioce. What we have now gives the minority absolute power and ‘tyrany of the minority’ is not better than ‘tyrany of the majority’. It was always about keeping landowners voices more powerful than other voices, and the side effect is less dense areas yield people who’s votes count more.

Steve , (edited )

My first reaction was “Why wasn’t this done when the decision was first leaked? Why wait 2 years?”

The Reproductive Freedom for Women Act […] is just a few sentences long. It states that “protections for access to abortion rights and other reproductive health care” […] “should be supported.” It adds that “the protections enshrined in Roe v. Wade … should be restored and built upon, moving towards a future where there is reproductive freedom for all.”

That’s not the language of writing laws. It’s completely vague and unenforceable. It really is just a political stunt for an election year.

Why is it so hard to make a real law to actually do this!?

Blackbeard , (edited )
@Blackbeard@lemmy.world avatar

My first reaction was “Why wasn’t this done when the decision was first leaked? Why wait 2 years?”

They didn’t:

In the wake of a bombshell leak last week of a Supreme Court draft opinion indicating the court’s conservative majority could soon overturn Roe v. Wade, Senate Democrats on Wednesday forced a vote to advance a bill that would enshrine abortion rights into federal law.

And here’s the text, which is notably more specific.

Furthermore, they also tried to pass a bill -,Women's%20Health%20Protection%20Act%20of%202021,and%20access%20to%2C%20abortion%20services.&text=immediately%20provide%20abortion%20services%20when,delay%20risks%20the%20patient's%20health.).

In fact, some of them have been trying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act.

Steve ,

Well, that makes me feel a little better.

Blackbeard ,
@Blackbeard@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah the history of this is long and complicated. This piece goes into a lot more detail about the various attempts on both sides to put abortion into federal legislation (both for and against), including a review of the political situations that led to and resulted from each effort. One of the more interesting threads is this one:

After [Joe] Biden joined the Senate in 1973, he voted for a failed constitutional amendment that would have allowed states to overturn the court’s Roe ruling. In a Washingtonian magazine interview at the time, he said of Roe: “I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.” But times changed, and so did he. In a 2007 book, Biden said he had arrived at a “middle-of-the-road position on abortion.” In 2008, he described Roe as “close to a consensus that can exist in a society as heterogeneous as ours.” As Obama’s vice president, Biden said the government had no “right to tell other people that women, they can’t control their own body.”

The cultural center of gravity on this issue has changed dramatically since the 1970s. There were pro choice voices in both parties for many decades, but with very few exceptions those voices have migrated into the Democratic Party, which gives it a more unified and consistent stance on the issue.

BigMacHole ,

But if you vote for Republicans this election they TOTALLY will Protect Abortion!

verdantbanana ,
@verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

But if you vote for Democrats this election they TOTALLY will Protect Abortion!

just look at how the last 51 years turned out voting for either of these two corporate bought parties

octopus_ink ,

Yep, the party actively destroying reproductive rights is indistinguishable from the party doing a suboptimal job of protecting them from the first party. This is clearly communicated by your clever, astute word replacement.

https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/add6c043-8c1d-4e9e-8dd1-19d330317b52.jpeg

givesomefucks ,

The only way that makes since is if you think AOC, Joe Manchin, Joe Biden, and every other politician that caucuses with the Dem party are on the same page and working for the same shit…

verdantbanana ,
@verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

had half a century to codify Roe v. Wade and on that note Biden was not helpful in keeping Clarence Thomas out of the Supreme Court

Biden’s political career consisted of crime bills, protecting heterosexual marriage, and being a war supporter

he only changed step in the last decade or so just to be more voteable and with Harris as a VP does not show much change

givesomefucks ,

Biden was not helpful in keeping Clarence Thomas out of the Supreme Court

“Not helpful” is cutting him a lot of slack…

He was the chair for the Anita Hill hearings and refused to let other victims testify in addition to a whole bunch of other shit

When Biden talks about “good ole days” of being friends with Republicans, he’s talking about how much they liked him when he was helping get Clarence on the court for life.

octopus_ink ,

You know that almost no one actually likes Biden as a choice right? And I absolutely don’t like Harris - I think she’ll pull us further to the right than Biden would. He’s just a better choice than the Evil Incarnate party. (and so is she) So when you folks come along to smear him like this, it falls a little flat.

octopus_ink ,

By the way, your first sentence is here:

https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/918f6694-369f-4231-8449-83644b8cc249.png

octopus_ink ,

I’m sorry for the multiple replies - I just keep remembering one more thing.

had half a century to codify Roe v. Wade

In this case I’m going to steal these comments from one I had saved a month ago, penned by @MegaUltraChicken :

Since 1981 Democrats have had control of the Presidency and Congress a whopping 4 years. One 2 year period under Clinton and one under Obama. That’s without factoring in the ability to fillibuster in the Senate. In over 40 years they’ve only had control 10% of the time.

and

That period of filibuster-proof control during Obama’s term is why we have the ACA. It was ~70 days and they passed the largest healthcare overhaul in generations.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

And that control under Obama included senator Joe Donnelly, who was anti-abortion (the only way he could get elected in Indiana).

octopus_ink ,

The only way that makes since is if you think AOC, Joe Manchin, Joe Biden, and every other politician that caucuses with the Dem party are on the same page and working for the same shit…

Not at all, the lack of party unity is one of the reasons they have done a suboptimal job with this and other things. Nonetheless, the flowchart is true, and you can see it over and over when any major thing happens. 100% of the time? No. Is it very often relevant to folks removed about Dems? Yes, IMO it is. But with absolute sincerity, you are welcome to disagree.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

You’re talking to someone who immediately switched from “don’t vote for Biden” to “don’t vote for Harris” the second they heard that Biden might let Harris run in his place. So yes, you’re exactly right with that flowchart.

kescusay ,
@kescusay@lemmy.world avatar

Then that person is a troll and needs to be banned.

verdantbanana ,
@verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

never switched

his pick for a vp never sat well with me

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

You absolutely switched because that option hadn’t been a possibility before.

And if it’s someone else, you’ll start saying why they shouldn’t be voted for.

Anything but stop the dictator.

Xanis ,

I swear. Around a year before every major election period the idiots spend a few months relearning how to spell check and type. We then get the same poorly considered, and poorly worded, series of blatantly Republican drivel that attempts, and fails, to explain why they’re the better side.

Your side is evil. It wasn’t always, it is now. One side attempts to do good, the other tries like hell to destroy good things. One is walking a marathon, the other is driving in the wrong direction in a suped up and raised truck billowing black smoke while flying a confederate and maga flag, adding up points as they run over people, with the radio turned up to America, Fuck Yeah by the D.V.D.A., with a picture of their sister in a bikini taped to the dashboard.

tiefling ,

So you suggest allowing the orange turd in instead?

BigMacHole ,

Correct! Look at all those BLUE STATES outlawing Women’s Healthcare!

ImADifferentBird ,
@ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

My dude, I’m sitting here in Kansas, and I’ve watched our Democrat governor save our asses over and over from all kinds of insane bullshit that comes out of our Republican legislature. Certainly, the Dems could do more, but to say they’re exactly the same on the abortion issue, or on many other issues, is to deny reality.

jumjummy ,

Russian troll. Go plant sunflowers!

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